I'll Be Waiting
by Sarateg
Summary: COMPLETE! The bond of friendship and love is tested between two teenagers, as each struggles to complete the goals set before them. Will they be able to see each other again? Rated for violence and...well...more violence. EdwardXWinry
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am only going to post this once, so it will also apply to any chapter of this story as well. I DO NOT OWN FMA…If I did I wouldn't be a poor college student struggling to graduate. None of these characters (well, except Regan, but she's a small supporting character) are mine. So please don't sue me. You won't get much, if anything at all…Trust me**

Note: Hello All! Welcome to my first ever story on (go ahead…pat yourself on the back!). My name is Erin Anderson, and I have yet to really get a chance to fill out my profile, so there really isn't a lot of info there. I do have to say that this story is FINISHED…No offense to anyone who does this, but I hate getting wrapped up in a story just to find out the author has quit writing on it, or that they have to go back and rewrite part of the beginning because it doesn't match their current storyline. I have spent almost half a year on this one story, and have actually put all of my other stories on hold because of it. I will post new chapters up either every other day, or every few days. It really just depends on how busy I am with school at the time. I should be able to post more than one or two on the weekends, but I wouldn't want to swamp you with sooooo many chapters, would I:c)

I will try my hardest to respond to comments as often as possible, but please don't hate me if I don't answer it within a 24-hour time frame. But please don't let that stop you from posting! This is my first fic on here, and I would love to hear any comments: flames and non-flames alike! Maybe as time goes on you will all begin to understand the method to my madness!

Either way, enjoy the story, and please feel free to post questions or email me if anything else arises.

P.S. This fic does contain a lot of spoilers throughout the anime, so please don't get mad if you read something and find out you haven't seen it in the anime yet….**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

Chapter One

"Bye Al!" Winry smiled as she reached up to hug her childhood friend. "Try to come here in one piece next time. And please watch out for Ed; we don't want anyone to accidentally step on-"

"WHAT! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHORTY THAT NO ONE CAN SEE WITHOUT A MAGNIFYING GLASS!" Ed screamed as he stormed up to the pair. Winry smiled as Alphonse inched away from his fuming brother to climb onto the train they would leave on shortly. Turning back to Ed her smile faded, as did his anger. His face softened as he saw is friend's eyes cloud with the coming of their departure.

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon, Ed? You only just got here a few days ago. Can't you stay a couple extra? It gets lonely around the house." Her eyes looked to the ground, hoping to hide some of her sadness. She could hear Ed sigh and scratch the back of his head.

"Winry…" he paused as he saw the girl's face rise to meet his. "We, uh, really just needed to get my arm and leg worked on. As you saw, they were pretty beat up in that last battle we had. But I can tell this one will hold up much better." He raised his arm in the air and balled his hand into a fist, eliciting a small smile from the girl. She took his arm into her gloved hands and checked it over one more time before he departed. Satisfied with her work, she patted his shoulder with her right hand.

"Just be more careful with this one. I was able to use a lighter metal so it wouldn't weigh you down so much, but it's not as tough against blows as the last one. Which means you need to think before you actually leap into battle."

Ed smiled slightly, "You make it sound as though I _want_ to get into these fights. But…as soon as I get Al's and my body back, we won't have to bug you anymore."

The girl lost her smile at his response, "Edward, you're not _bugging_ Grams and myself. We're practically family!"

Ed looked away towards the train where Alphonse sat gazing at the two friends. Seeing his older brother turn to look at him, the younger brother raised his hand and waved. "I don't care so much for my limbs as I just want to get his body back," he said as he waved back. She nodded.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Winry smiled slightly and looked back at the boy she'd known most of her life. "Soooo…is there any possible way a third companion could join your little trip?" Her face became slightly flushed as she waited for the coming decline.

Edward turned back to Winry with a stern face, "I've said before that it's too dangerous for you to be involved in this."

"Is it just because I'm a girl? Because if I remember correctly I can even make the mighty Full-Metal Alchemist flinch with the sight of a wrench!"

"It's not that!" Edward yelled, his hands waving around in the air. "It's just…I mean…the things that we get caught up in…and the things we have to see…it's just not a place for a woman!"

Winry sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine, whatever you say, though I don't agree with you. I think that I would make a good addition to the group." Seeing as how Edward was not going to respond to her last statement Winry gave up the battle, for now.

"Look, just promise me you'll be more careful when you're out there. And at least write once in awhile to let us know you're still alive."

Ed nodded and boarded the train, taking the window seat next to his brother. Al leaned forward and waved goodbye to his friend. She waved back and yelled as the train began to move, "Be careful! I'll see both of you soon!"

Sitting back into his seat, Al glanced over to see Edward already staring out the window, "Brother, what do you think she meant by that?"

"Who knows, Al. It's Winry we're talking about here," he muttered, turning his head to hide some of the disappointment for having to leave so soon.

Winry stayed at the train platform until she saw the beautiful machine disappear behind the hills. Relieved, she peeled her long-sleeved sweater and gloves off and relished the sun's kiss on her skin with the tank top she had underneath. Stretching her arms out in front of her, she began the lonely walk back home. She didn't know how she was able to survive their short stay having to wear those blasted things the whole time they were there. She wished they could have stayed longer, but it was horrid wearing those things during the early summer months.

After an hour of walking, Winry was able to make out her house on the hill. Happy she was back home; she ran the rest of the way, skipping up the front steps to go inside.

"Grams! I'm home! Where are you at?" the girl questioned as she was met with silence. Alarmed, she stopped everything and listened to the house, hoping to hear some movement. Her wish was granted as Winry heard some of the tools whirring from the workshop her grandmother was in. She tossed the horrible sweater and gloves on the nearest chair as she made her way up to the workshop. Walking quietly into the shop, the teenager watched as her grandmother was finishing one of her newest pieces. Winry walked up and marveled the auto-mail. It had a simple design, but looked and felt durable enough to stand up in any situation.

Pinako smiled at the girl's reaction, "So I take it that you approve? See, this old hag still has a thing or two up her sleeves." She hummed lightly as she handed the limb to the younger girl and began to clean up her mess.

Holding the gorgeous limb carefully in her arms, she stroked it with her right hand. "It's so beautiful…" she chimed in a dreamy daze. After a split second she snapped out of her dream. "Did you already pack the two limbs I had set out? Who knows when he will need another one…"

"Yes, child. I already packed those. I also have another bag full of nothing but parts; I figure you could make another three or four limbs out of those if you needed to."

"Thank you so much! You didn't have to do all that…"

"It was no problem, Winry. What would this old woman do if you children fell apart on me?"

"Though it still doesn't make up for your bad jokes." Before she could ask any more questions, the older woman began talking.

"To answer your next question, yes, I already have the other one packed and was just about ready to put this one with it before you showed up. And your boots are also finished. I think those were the simplest things to create. I wanted it all to be a surprise, but sometimes things don't always go as planned…"

Noticing the silence after a few moments, Pinako stopped her cleaning and turned around to see Winry clutching the finely crafted arm to her chest; her bangs covering her eyes. She reached a hand up to wipe the girl's misty eyes and was relieved to see her smile slightly at the warm gesture.

"What's wrong, child. Is there something wrong with the arm? If so, there's no need to cry. I can fix it shor-"

"No…no, it's not that Grams. This is a beautiful arm; better than even I could make. I'm sure it will get a lot of use when it's needed." Winry took a moment to wipe the rest of the wetness from her eyes. "Do you think he's going to be angry with me? I think I should have told him before I left. I hate lying to him…"

Pinako's eyes softened as she realized whom Winry was talking about. She placed the last of her tools up and beckoned for the girl to follow her to the kitchen. Once there she began to boil water for tea. Not wanting to spill any liquid on the arm, Winry placed it on the dining room table, sat down next to it, and welcomed the warm drink given to her a few minutes later. The elder woman sat and contemplated for a few minutes, silently sipping her own soothing liquid.

"Yes, it is true that you will have lied to him. You have to think ahead to what he may feel. His feelings will be hurt, his trust may be dented, if not broken." Winry lowered her head, feeling shame cover her like a dark and suffocating cloud. "In fact, it's also true that you have _already_ lied to him. So that must also be taken into accoun-"

"But Grams," Winry interrupted, "he didn't need to know-"

"You asked for my advice!" Pinako said, raising her voice slightly, and promptly quieting the teenager. "Now, where was I? Oh yes. What do you think he's going to say when he sees what happened? What will he think? What could possibly be a reason that one of his best friends would lie to him in such a way?"

"I see your point. He's going to hate me…" Tears began to spring to the girl's eyes once more.

A few moments of silence went by as the girl silently wept to herself and Pinako looked out the window towards the sunset. The elder woman could hear Winry pick up the spare limb and begin to exit the room to finish packing.

"I don't think he will hate you."

Winry turned around to see Pinako slowly get up from her seat and walk over to her and pat her left arm. "Even though he is known as the 'Full Metal' alchemist doesn't mean he isn't still a human. Yes, he will be hurt deeply at first, but I believe that after he finds out your reasons he won't be angry. True, I am still upset over your decisions after all of this, but that is not going to stop me from supporting you." A moment of silence surrounded them as the young girl processed the information. "He'll get over it. But if he doesn't, then send him back here and I'll pound some sense into him for you."

Winry smiled at her grandmother, kneeled down, and hugged the woman. "Thank you so much Grams. For everything. If it wasn't for you, who knows what would have happened then."

"It was no problem, child. Now, isn't it time you went and packed? You have an important test coming up in a few days and you need your rest."

The younger girl nodded and ran to her room to finish packing. There weren't many things besides her tools and parts that she needed to take with her, save for a few childhood memories. She dug through her drawers for an appropriate traveling outfit for when she left, and placed it on the end of her bed, along with the coat Pinako tailored for her. She never realized the older auto-mail mechanic could also sew such a beautiful garment. She placed what few clothes she would take with her in a small suitcase, and then walked over to her bookcase. All the books were on auto-mail that she memorized years ago when she began helping her grandmother with the shop, so she wouldn't need to bring those along. She placed her favorite wrench, the one she took everywhere with her, in with her clothes. In front of some of her books stood pictures of when she was younger. She picked up the few pictures she had of her parents, before their lives were taken during the Ishbal conflict, and placed those first in her suitcase. Their lives were all so happy then. Ed and Al's mother was still alive, and her own parents were still on this earth. Human transmutations never crossed any of their minds.

Shaking her head to clear it of thoughts, Winry went back to the bookcase to retrieve the pictures of the brothers and her. These were before Ed and Al tried to bring their mother back after she died. _Before they had to leave me…_

She lovingly grazed her favorite picture with her right hand. It was taken when her and Ed were about 9 or 10 years old, shortly before his mother became ill. They would often go sit on the hill by the river and watch the sunset, talking the entire time about the world outside of Rizenbul: what other people could be doing, and what it would be like to visit those places. They had vowed to travel together when they got older to see those sights. There they sat, watching the sunset. She was tired from their running around that day, so she leaned her head on his shoulder. He was hesitant at first, but relaxed and placed his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Neither of them heard Al sneaking up behind them. He quickly snapped the picture and ran as fast as he could, with Ed closing in on his heels. Shortly after that began the battle of which brother would marry her.

Winry laughed quietly to herself at the memory. She placed the cherished memories next to her parent's photos and gently closed the suitcase.

_ I'll be seeing you soon Ed…_


	2. Chapter 2

Did you likey the first chappie? Well that's kind of a weird question. You wouldn't be here otherwise…Here's round Two!

Note: I posted this the same day as the first chapter. Just thought I'd let you know…

Chapter Two

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the window of the state library where the two brothers poured over many books. No matter how much they looked, it seemed like they would never find out how to make the Philosopher's Stone without the sacrifice of human lives. After flipping through the pages of what seemed to be the thousandth book, Edward slammed his fist down onto the table . Some of the books that had been balanced on its top crashed loudly to the floor. People looked up from their books at the distraction, but quickly went back to their own studies. Smiling sheepishly, Edward reached down to pick up the fallen books and leaned back in his chair to look at the ceiling.

"Have you found anything Al? All of these books basically said the same thing. Anytime there has been a stone made, there has also been a great number of people that have disappeared; whole cities in some situations…"

"Nothing yet, brother," replied the younger brother, sighing as he put down his own book. "Do you want to leave this place for a few hours to rest? You've been reading for hours on end each day, with just short breaks in between to sleep on that couch by the window. I don't need to rest, but you do." He sighed as he heard his brother grunt his disapproval. "Why don't we go watch the qualifying exam for State Alchemists? Colonel Mustang mentioned to me that there is going to be a woman competing for the position of State Alchemist. If she makes it, she'll be the first female alchemist that has ever worked for the military."

Edward looked around at his notes and books scattered around their area. He knew no one would bother their studies while they were gone. The older brother stood and stretched his tight muscles and scratched the back of his head. "Knowing Mustang he will just try to get into her pants. I don't see how they are even letting a woman try out. Well," he yawned and motioned for his brother to follow him, "I don't think that being gone for a few hours would hurt anything. I can grab a decent meal in the city while we're out as well. I haven't eaten anything but that military dog-food since we got back."

Al nodded and stood up so the pair could walk to the area of Central where the second round of qualifications were to take place. It was a nice day out; the sky was bright blue with just a few small visible clouds. A special arena was built so more thorough practical exams could be given. Apparently the rumor got around after the first round about a woman taking the exam because there were many extra eyes to watch the event. This year a mock battle round was added to see what each recruit could do in the situation of war. Edward figured that the second round alone was why the arena was built. He and Al found a place where they could see everything that happened, and listened to the gossip coming from a group close to them. The second round would begin in just a few minutes.

"I can't believe they are letting a woman even try to qualify. We all know they aren't good at this stuff."

"I wonder what is making the military so desperate that they have to let _women_ try!"

"You all know she's not going to win. It's just to show that they are being fair…"

"I heard she's pretty young too, though not as young as Full-Metal…"

"Speaking of Full-Metal, there is also something going around about her having auto-mail."

"It's too bad she's not an adult yet, cause from what I saw I'd like to have a go at her-"

"Which one is she?"

"She's the one over there in the whitish looking coat. I didn't notice it was her at first because she has kept her hood pulled up the whole time."

"Heh…maybe she doesn't want everyone to see her cry when she loses…"

"Well, what exactly is she good at?"

"Some who have seen her say she can change molecules in the air to create friction and cause lightning to –"

"Ah, you're saying there'd be _sparks_ when I get her in bed, right?"

"Don't underestimate her, you guys," piped one of the men. "I saw her during the first round of the practical exam, and she trampled all the other qualifiers. She's good at what she does; she doesn't even need to use a transmutation circle!"

At that statement Ed looked over to his brother, "Did you hear that Al?" The younger brother nodded. Edward continued his thought, "This means she has seen the gate. Which means she must have tried to perform a human transmutation. Al, we may need to keep an eye on her whether or not she makes it into the military." Again Al nodded, and pointed to the middle of the area. "Brother, I don't know if you can see this, but her coat is the same as yours, except that it is a different color. It even has the same symbol sensei has."

"Eh? I wonder if she has seen me somewhere and just used the idea. We'll have to worry about that later. They're about to start."

All seven contestants formed a semi-circle at one end of the arena where they would be tested in. Ed saw they placed the female in the white coat in the middle. Colonel Mustang walked up and explained the exercise to the group and they each nodded their understanding. He walked away from them and was joined by a few other officers towards the middle of the area. Within seconds they were able to create businesses, vehicles, and other things simulating a city that may be under siege; some of the buildings seemed to have been already been bombed. There was only really one main road, but a few smaller roads intersected, while many of the buildings had places that enemies could hide. The audience could see about seventy soldiers or so coming in from the back and taking places throughout the city, where the seven couldn't see them. One by one in order the officers walked off to the side and waited for the exercise to begin. Ed found that even though buildings were created, there was enough room for spectators and judges to see everything. The silence seemed to be so thick surrounding the area people felt it hard to breathe. The seven huddled together to come up with a plan, simulating the meetings officers would have before a battle. Each one would nod to each other's ideas until the girl would express an idea, to which the others would shake their heads. Again she tried to have someone listen, but they would not.

_She should know better than to try to get men to listen to her. What was she expecting as she was signing up?_ Edward thought to himself.

Finally the huddle broke and the recruits took their places once again in the semicircle. Seeing the recruits were ready finally, a whistle was blown to signal the start of the exam. Not a second after the whistle was blown came the sound of guns being fired from the city towards the recruits. The six male recruits ran for cover behind rocks and other barriers placed not too far from them. The girl quickly snapped her fingers and lowered her hands to the side of her body. She stood in place, not moving out of the path of the gunfire.

_What is she doing? She's going to get herself killed within the first minute of the exam! _Edward thought. Maybe she was too scared to move out of the way of the gunfire. A few seconds passed without her falling, when she suddenly began to walk towards the city. People were snickering and muttering about being a dumb woman until Al gasped and pointed her out to his brother. "Brother look! The bullets are bouncing away about two feet from her!"

Sure enough the brothers and some other people saw the bullets come within a few feet of the woman and, as though hitting an invisible barrier, fall to the ground harmlessly. The other male recruits ditched their plan and ran behind her, using her as a human shield. Some of them tried to get right next to her, but were pushed back by an invisible barrier. Ed heard many people in the crowd muttering about how cowardly the other six were. He agreed; comrades shouldn't use fellow soldiers as shields of any kind. It didn't matter whether they were alchemists or not.

The group proceeded towards the mock city, still being rained on by gunfire. As they came closer to the city, one of the recruits ducked behind the safety of a rock and drew a transmutation circle in the dirt. After clapping his hands and placing them in the circle, a rumbling sound could he heard as part of the ground in front of him lifted up to start a wave of dirt towards the city. The alchemist recruit seemed to forget that his comrades were in the path of the wave though. Ed could see the girl look back to see the coming danger and yell an order at one of the men. He nodded and drew the same transmutation circle in the dirt, and sent another rumble of earth towards the first one. The two waves met with a loud crash and a shower of dirt covered parts of the city and recruits, but ended up canceling each other out. Shaking the shower of dirt off, the girl looked up to the left to see a soldier taking aim at the recruit she yelled orders to. He had left her area of protection, so he could be shot if she didn't do anything. Raising her left arm and snapping her fingers, the opponent began to rise high into the air. Screaming at being so high off the ground he clutched onto his gun for dear life, thinking maybe somehow it would save him. She began moving her wrist up and down, and as she did so the soldier was seeing moving up and down in the air. Eventually his gun was ripped from his arms and thrown to the side and he was lowered to the ground. As he touched down, he tried to run to safety, but it seemed he couldn't move his body. From the audience they could see the buttons on his sleeves attach to his belt buckle, and his buckles on his shoes connect with each other. Snapping her fingers again she caused the immobile soldier to be drug over to the nearest vehicle and stick to it, preventing him or anyone else from setting him free.

"What is she doing, Al? It looks like she can magnetize things with those gloves of hers." Al nodded, "Brother, they might be similar to Colonel Mustang's gloves that can cause friction to set things on fire. Maybe it's the same process." Ed nodded, as there was still much to see in the exam.

As the group came within the city, the other recruits scrambled for cover behind cars, buildings, and the like. The one that tried to send the wave of dirt continued to sit out in the field, obviously realizing he just failed the test. The girl kept advancing into the city, bullets still not able to penetrate her shield. Once she got to one of the small crossroads in the city, what seemed like forty to fifty soldiers came out of nowhere and surrounding her in a big circle, effectively blocking any chance for escape. They had guns pointed at her, telling her to give up. None took a shot yet, they wanted to see what she would do.

Calmly the girl raised her left arm and pulled up her sleeve, showing her metal arm. Murmurs went throughout the crowd, confirming the rumor of the girl having auto mail. Before the soldiers could react she brought her right hand up and clapped them together, then grasped her metal arm. Thunder came out of nowhere and numerous lightning bolts leapt from the sky down to earth to form a column of electricity that kept the girl in the center. Gasps could be heard coming from the crowd. The crowd couldn't believe that such a young _girl_ could do what they were seeing. The column lasted only a few milliseconds as a great explosion erupted from the center of the column, and the soldiers were thrown to various metal objects. They were also attached to surrounding metal objects, unable to move; a nice pile of guns could be seen on either side of the girl.

Just when the audience thought that the exam may be over they saw the girl walk over to stand between two cars. She looked tired, but wasn't through with what she set out to do. There were still some soldiers hiding and waiting in the buildings for their chance to strike. She was still taking gunfire from some remaining soldiers in the second and third stories of buildings, but continued to deflect the bullets. She lifted her arms straight out to her sides and snapped both fingers at the same time. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds she began to rise off the ground slowly. She lifted herself up to one of the rooftops of a four story building and landed, kneeling to catch her breath. She peered over the ledge of the building and looked around to see if she could see her opponents. She did not notice one of the soldiers with knives attached to his hands advancing on her from his hiding place on the rooftop. She heard a slight noise and turned around just in time to avoid getting pushed over the side. She rolled to the side, kicking herself up from her prone position. Ed noticed she must have let her magnetic shield down on herself because the guy was able to get close enough to cut her, but the other soldiers on the ground still couldn't move.

The girl dodged the blows of the attacker easily, though the audience could see she was starting to wear out. The girl ducked again and transformed her left arm into a blade, similar to his own, Ed noted. The two fought back and forth for a few moments, each ducking the other's blows and slashes. He could tell her blows were not meant to harm, more to intimidate and give some extra time to think of a plan. The girl finally had enough and swept her legs underneath her attacker, causing him to fall backwards. Ed looked toward the audience to see some sigh in relief at the girl's efforts. A cry rang out throughout the arena, causing Edward to turn his eyes back towards the battle. It seemed the soldier threw his dagger he was holding as he fell down; the sharp instrument protruding through the girl's right arm. A trail of blood could be seen flowing down the girl's once white coat. Throughout the entire exam the hood never came down from the girl's head, so no one could really tell if she was all right or not. Furious, the girl ripped the knife from her arm and threw it back at the soldier, narrowly avoiding his groin by inches. Before her attacker could get up the girl clapped her hands together and touched her metal arm again. Thunder was heard and a single bolt of lightning fell near her attacker, sending him flying off the building. The girl ran and stood on the ledge of the building and snapped her fingers, causing the man's fall to stop. She directed his unconscious body over the where the other forty soldiers still lay connected to the cars. Ed looked around to see that the other recruits had rounded up the rest of the soldiers and had them separated as to who took down which soldier.

A whistle blew signaling the end of the exam. The audience roared their approval at this young woman. The brothers were surprised at their change in attitude. They both had to admit that she was the best out of the group of recruits, even if she was a woman. Ed and Al stayed behind as people began to file out of the arena to finish their daily duties. Some officers were beginning to help clean up the mess. Soldiers that were taken by the male recruits shook hands with and congratulated them on their effort. Perched on top of the rooftop the girl snapped her fingers and all the soldiers who were bound by the magnetism were released. They all stood up and rubbed some bruises, but were relatively unharmed. Some smiled and waved to her. Ed watched as the girl looked down and saw that she was directly above a vehicle. She stood straight up, with her hands stretched out to her sides. The trail of blood down her cloak had widened, and people could see the small pool of blood that formed by her feet.

The girl snapped her fingers and slowly lifted off the ledge, then forward to where she was directly above the hunk of metal. Slowly she descended down next to the building. Edward saw the girl turn her head towards what was left of the crowd as she got halfway down the building. He couldn't make out her face from the shadow that was still cast by her hood being up, but it felt like she was staring straight at him. Suddenly she grabbed her right arm and began to plummet towards the ground, appearing to be unconscious. Screams could be heard from various places in the crowd at the sight of the girl falling. Luckily, Edward saw Colonel Mustang, who was also sent out to clean up the wreckage, run up and catch the girl before she would have hit the ground. Blood could be seen dripping onto the ground and staining the Colonel's uniform. He ran off towards the infirmary with the still unconscious girl in his arms.

After the action had died down Edward looked towards his brother, who seemed as shocked as he was. "Well, Al. If they judge on just the number of soldiers that were taken down by each recruit, then it looks like we have our first female alchemist." He sighed as he looked at the remains of the arena, "well, let's go get something to eat before going back to the library." Alphonse nodded and they made their way to the entrance. "Brother, I wonder if she's okay. Do you think we can go meet her and see if she may need anything?"

"EH? Just because she's a girl doesn't mean we're going to wait on her hand and foot. If she wants something she'll just have to get up and get it herse-" Ed stopped as he turned and saw his brother with his arms folded across his chest. Ed knew when Al was determined about something, that not even he could stop him. Hanging his head in defeat, Edward whined, "Okkaaaaaayyyyy…Let's not take too long though. I want to get food soon!"

The two headed towards the infirmary entrance and asked where the room for the new female recruit was. The receptionist at first declined them access, until a coworker whispered something into her ear. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that Colonel Mustang already granted your entrance to the room. Go through the double doors, down the hall and take a left at the first intersection. She'll be in room 209 on the right."

"Thanks," the boys replied as they pushed through the double doors. "What do you think it means that Colonel Mustang gave us permission to enter, Brother? We don't even know the her."

"I know, Al. That's what I'm trying to figure out." They turned left at the first intersection as they were instructed and continued down the hallway until they finally saw room 209. The door was closed, and the curtains were drawn, so they were not able to see inside. Hesitantly, Edward reached up and knocked lightly on the door with his left hand. After a few seconds Colonel Mustang exited the room, closing the door behind him. He stood before the two boys silently before asking, "What are you doing here?"

Edward huffed at the cockiness that was always present in the Colonel and replied a little too loudly, "I don't know! You were the one who gave us access back here! It's as if you knew we would show up!"

"Brother," Al scolded quietly, "people are trying to rest here." Facing the Colonel, he continued, "we just came to see if the female recruit was okay after her injury. She did lose a lot of blood. Is there anything we can get for her-"

"Al! What did I say about her being able to get things herself…"

"Full Metal, if you continue to whine like a child, then I will have to ask you to leave. This is the hospital and there are people trying to recover from wounds."

"Fine, if you don't want us here, then we'll leave! I didn't want to come here anyway, HE did!"

Edward was just turning to leave with Alphonse in tow as the door opened and a nurse whispered something into the Colonel's ear. Blushing, she quickly ducked her head back inside the room and shut the door. The boys didn't even get a chance to see the girl inside.

"Well, it seems you have just disturbed the new Thunder-Blade Alchemist. She requests me to tell the short one to please shut his mouth so she can get some rest…"

"WHAT! Disturbed my ass! And who is she calling so SHORT THAT A GRAIN OF RICE IS BIGGER THAN HE IS! She's already insulting me and I don't even know her!"

Edward pushed his way past Mustang into the room and yelled at the girl, who was faced away from him. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

"Hey, Ed…." She painfully shifted, with her now fully exposed left arm, to turn towards her friend, "Did'ja miss me?" she said slowly.

Stopping in his tracks, Edward found he couldn't move, "Win…Winry?"


	3. Chapter 3

Well hello again! I see I've had some reviews (thanks to Fullmetal Ai, urbanfae, TiNyLoVeBuBBLes, and snwbnny!), which I've enjoyed reading. I do agree with you, snwbnny, at first when I came up with this idea. But then I got to thinking…Yeah she can do a lot of the same stuff Ed does, but hell…Look at her temper! It could make for some pretty interesting spats they are known for having!

Thank you again! And please, please, PLEASE, if anyone has any questions if you could post them. I'll get back to them, and try to explain as much as I can without spoiling the story.

One more thing... I have tried so hard to keep these characters (cough who I don't own cough) true to how you would see them in the series and the manga. I have also followed a lot of the manga for certain plot points, though they really don't make a huge difference in the overall story. So, if you see something that doesn't quite fit plotwise from the anime, most likely it came from the manga.

Enjoy!

Chapter Three

Winry believed that if the pain and amount of blood she lost from the stab wound didn't kill her, Edward would. She remembered being exhausted while lowering herself to the ground after the exam, and looked towards the crowd. Since people were already starting to leave the arena she was able to see Alphonse and Edward clearly. It seemed he was staring directly at her, as though he was trying to figure out who she was. She had just lowered her head more on her descent, when all of a sudden her body gave out and a terrible pain shot through her arm into her spine. She knew she had lost a lot of blood. She hurried to get down to the ground, but remembered falling and then blacking out when someone caught her. She awoke soon after, realizing she was in Colonel Mustang's arms. He was running with her towards the infirmary. He got her into a room and a nurse hooked up an IV to put some more blood in the teenager's pale body. He stood by the door with his arms crossed, with her blood still over his uniform.

"I'm sorry Colonel. I didn't mean to get hurt like that. I shouldn't have let my barrier down. I bet I just screwed up my chances of making it…" Winry apologized weakly.

"Save your apologies. You did what you thought was best in the current situation. You cannot fault yourself for something that you cannot change," he replied sternly.

The nurse began to take Winry's coat off and laid it on a chair. Underneath the girl wore a tank top, so the nurse sighed in relief that she could get started stitching up her wound. It was deep and went completely through the girl's arm, but it looked to have barely cut an artery, which was causing all the blood loss. With the assistance of other medical personnel they were able to get the artery closed and then begin the stitching of the skin. Tears flowed down Winry's face from the amount of pain she was experiencing, but deep down she knew she deserved it. Next time she wouldn't let her guard down so willingly. A few minutes of silence passed before anyone spoke.

"I gave permission for the Elric brothers to come straight back here. It seems like something they would do," Mustang said blatantly. Winry sighed and then cringed as the nurse finished stitching both sides of the wound.

"Do you want me to cover your arm so they do not see it? I guessed you haven't told them yet of your…attachments yet."

Winry waved slightly with her left arm. "No, Colonel Mustang. Thank you for the offer though. I figure if they were there for the whole exam then they saw what I had to do to get my lightning attack to work."

A small knock was heard coming from the door, and Winry quickly turned over on her right side, which caused a painful hiss and a few explicative words to escape her mouth. She didn't want to see the brothers at that exact moment. The longer she could put it off, the better. The Colonel opened the door to find a small soldier who delivered a message to the superior. He took it and again closed the door. Sighing, Winry slowly turned back over slightly to face the officer. He read the document for a few moments and a small smile showed on his features. Folding the note up and putting it in one of his pockets he walked over to the girl and shook her left hand.

"I'd like to be the first to congratulate you on your acceptance into the military as a State Alchemist. This message is from the Fuhrer, who was in attendance at the exam today. From now on you will be known as the Thunder-Blade Alchemist, and also as the first woman alchemist to be accepted into the military with the title of State Alchemist. You will also be put under my direct supervision, much like the Edward."

Winry slowly and painfully lifted her right arm and saluted the Colonel. "Thank you. I have noticed you seem to be running a day-care more and more recently."

Another knock now sounded from the door. Winry laid down on her right side once more, causing a shooting pain to go down her arm and back. Hearing the Colonel exiting the room to the waiting brothers took her mind off the pain, which surprisingly didn't bother her at the moment. She was too happy. She finally was able to do something people had told her these last few years she couldn't do. But what was Edward going to think? She still had a lingering fear in the back of her mind that he would hate her for doing something such as this.

She heard him arguing with Mustang outside her room and couldn't believe he would forget that he was in a hospital. Getting an evil idea, she beckoned for the nurse to come over. She asked her to deliver a message for the Colonel to tell the visitors. Then she laid back down and waited for the explosion. "I guess it's now or never," she whispered to herself.

Sure enough she heard Edward fly off the handle and barge into her room. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

This was it. There was no backing out now.

"Hey, Ed…" She said as she painfully turned towards her friend, her left arm fully exposed. "Did'ja miss me?" she said slowly. Pain was slowly starting to take her over again. She was too stressed at the moment. She saw her best friend stop in his tracks; the confused and hurt expression etched permanently into her brain till the end of time. He couldn't move from the spot he was in.

"Win…Winry?"

She slowly nodded. She saw and heard the gasp coming from Alphonse from in the hallway. Mustang nodded to her and walked off towards his office. She looked back to Ed, just to see him still standing there confused and hurt. She couldn't even describe the pain she felt as she saw his expression. She wanted him to yell at her, comfort her, anything but just stand there and stare at her like he was. She attempted to prop herself with her left arm so she could sit up. The nurse came over and advised her that she should be resting and not trying to get up. She resisted the nurse's words and asked if she could be left alone for a few minutes with her friends. The nurse nodded and said she would be outside the door if any assistance were needed.

Alphonse came into the room as the nurse left and closed the door behind him. Edward finally stopped staring and faced one of the walls, seemingly interested in the medical devices. Winry knew he didn't want to her to see him upset. Silence filled the small space. No one wanted to say anything. Winry slowly lay on her back and stared at the ceiling. _Great,_ she thought, _he really does hate me now. Why did I do this?_

"Um, Winry," began Al, "you were really great out there today. I think you surprised a lot of people."

"Yeah," Ed absently agreed, "a lot…"

"I didn't know you could do alchemy!" continued Al, "When did you begin to study it?"

"I, uh…Al…I'd rather not talk about it at this moment. I swear…" the pain was becoming a little worse now that the shock of the situation had worn off, "I swear I'll fill you in later on what's happened…"

"And about how you have that auto-mail arm? When were you planning on telling us that?" Ed spat from his corner. He still wasn't looking at his childhood friend.

"Brother! She said she'd tell us soon! I'm sure she has a good reason for not telling us before-"

"It doesn't matter!" Edward turned around and went up to the girl's bedside and grasped her left shoulder. "You did alchemy without having to draw a transmutation circle first! When did you see the gate? HOW did you see the gate?" Noticing she was not looking nor speaking to him, he lightly shook her shoulder, "Tell me dammit, WHEN?"

"While you were gone!" she turned sharply onto her right side, ripping a few of her stitches open. She hissed at the pain, but kept yelling, "Is that what you wanted to hear? It was while you were gone! Pinako wasn't at the house when I came home one day, there was something there, and now I have to have this thing for an arm!"

"What do you mean? Who was at the house?" Edward demanded.

"I don't know who he was. I was happy because I thought you had come home, but then you changed into a dark-haired guy, and he…" She stopped momentarily at the painful memory. " He was able to take different forms. I don't remember much now, but when I woke up I didn't have my left arm!"

Edward took a step back at this new information. Homunculus? How could that be? How did they know where she was? Did they think he was there? Is that why this happened? Is this all his fault?

Slowly, Winry began to roll back towards her left side. She propped herself up again, and held her right arm towards her body. Blood was now flowing freely down the cut again and would need to be re-stitched.

"Winry! You're bleeding!" exclaimed Al, who moved towards the door to get the nurse.

"Alphonse, don't you touch that door! I'm okay…I swear," Winry looked from the younger brother to Edward to see his face covered with his bangs, covering his eyes. "Edward…Please forgive me for not…" The girl's head began to pound with an extreme pain, which made her left hand slide off the bed trying to grab at her head. Slowly she felt herself begin to fall off the bed, but never felt the coldness of the floor.

Edward looked up in time to see Winry get pale and start to slide off the bed. He quickly closed the short distance and caught the girl before she was able to hit the floor. "Al!" he yelled. The younger brother nodded in understanding and opened the door looking for the nurse. She rushed in and helped Edward situate the girl back onto the bed. Immediately the nurse began stitching the wound up and putting more blood into the girl's IV. Edward held onto her left hand, her auto-mail hand, a feeling he never expected to get from his best friend. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and closed again for a few seconds. He wished he could see her blue eyes shining to him, now more than ever, just to let him know she would be all right. He saw the nurse inject something else into Winry's IV and asked what it was.

"Oh this? It's just a little sedative so she can rest tonight. Tomorrow we'll see how she is and, if everything goes well we'll most likely release her then."

He nodded, and reached up to move some of the hair that clung to her brow as the nurse left the room once again. The motion caused her eyes to open very slowly, and she seemed groggy.

"Edward, I'm sorry…I didn't…want to tell you…because I thought you'd…be mad at me for not…being able to… protect myself…" she slowly said as her eyes closed in slumber.

Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he still held onto her automail hand, the one thing he wished never to happen to anyone else, let alone his best friend. "Al, I think I may have gotten some of that dirt in my eyes from the arena…" he said as he wiped his eyes, trying his best to face away from his brother.

"Brother, I know this is a bad time, but do you want me to go get some food for you? You were going to get some dinner after the exam, and you haven't had anything all day…" Al said, trying to lighten the situation a little. He knew how upset his brother was, and knew he hated showing a lot of emotion, but this was a different case. He knew how close the two were, as he was very close to Winry as well. Were it not for him being a suit of armor, he may have cried a whole lake by this point.

"No, Al. Thank you, though," replied Ed, not turning to look at him. "I'm going to stay here for a little while, so you can do whatever you want…"

"Okay." With that Al walked out of the room to leave the two friends alone. He sat down on the floor outside the door, just to be near to Winry's room if anything happened.

Edward left the girl's side briefly to grab a stool from the other side of the room. Sitting next to her left side, he held her hand and prepared himself for the long night he would have by her side.

Winry woke up hours later to see the lights dimmed. She looked to her right to see a new bandage on her right arm where she was stabbed. She attempted to lift her left arm but felt that it was heavier than normal. Looking back to her left, she was surprised to see Edward sitting on a stool next to her bed with his head lying on his left arm, fast asleep. He had her auto-mail hand clasped within his right hand. Not wanting to disturb her friend, she looked back to her injured arm and tried to lift it. It felt like a fire was going down her arm, but she continued to try anyway. After what seemed like an eternity, she was able to lay her arm on her stomach, so her hand pointed towards Edward. She studied his sleeping features for a few minutes; he seemed so peaceful.

_I'm surprised he's still here. I thought he would have hated me for what I did and not want to ever see me again, _Winry thought sadly to herself, _but then again, he could just be waiting for me to wake up so he could yell at me for my stupidity and weakness. I mean, I couldn't even defend myself against an intruder…_

_Pinako and sensei both said he would overreact to the situation once he found out. Maybe they were wrong? But then again, he might just leave like he always does. Yeah, I know I'm also a 'dog-of-the-military' like he is now, but that doesn't mean he still can't leave me in the dust. I just wanted to prove to everyone that I could do something that I've been told I couldn't do. What is so wrong with that? Why is it so wrong for women to join the military as an alchemist? There are women in the regular military, hell, look at Hawkeye. She's a girl and she can wield guns better than anyone I've ever seen!_

"Win…ry…" came a soft voice to her left. The girl tried not to jerk her hand away, fearing the boy was awake. But when she looked over, she could see that he was still fast asleep. _I wonder what he's dreaming about that includes me. Maybe he's trying to strangle me, or something, for being so stupid._

Looking to see if anything in her area had changed, and seeing it hadn't, the girl decided to close her eyes and try to get some more sleep. She would need it for the argument that she was afraid would happen in the following days.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again everyone. Here I am…posting again like I promised! I've got a lot of family staying at my house this weekend to escape Rita, but I promise I will still post like I said before. On a more serious note, having been through not only Ivan, but also Dennis in less than a year, I have seen the destruction even just a category 3 hurricane can do. For anyone who reads this that lives(or lived) in the affected and soon-to-be affected areas I give my thoughts and just hope for the best for everyone. My family was fortunate enough not to have any damage during this past year, but I've got many close friends who have lost everything. Life is tough, but it's much easier to survive if you stay _alive_ in the first place…Material possessions can be replaced (though it does hurt everytime I think of my anime and movie collection being destroyed), but people can't.

Stay safe everyone, wherever you live…

**Chapter Four**

_Eyes…those piercing blue eyes…dozens of them looking at her. She looked around from the gate to see where she could be, but all that surrounded her was white. No roads…no paths…_

_Nothingness._

_She wanted to turn and run, but her legs would not function. Why was she here? What was this place she was in? All of her questions went unanswered as the eyes kept staring at her, small smiles appearing out of the black emptiness. She yelled at them, telling them to go away. But the smiles kept appearing; the eyes kept staring. Looking up, she saw the two doors from which the eyes and smiles came from. If only she could close them, then maybe they would leave her alone and let her go back home. _

_Lifting her courage, Winry overcame her fear and slowly walked to the doors of the gate. As she began to close them, it seemed as though the blackness crept towards her. Ignoring her fear, she pushed harder to close the huge doors, yet closer the darkness came. Just before she was able to close the doors she felt something slam into her back, pushing her almost into the menacing darkness. At that precise moment dozens of black tentacles shot out from the never-ending darkness, threatening to swallow her whole. They wrapped around her body, her arms, and legs and began to pull her in. Resisting with all the force she could muster, Winry began to slowly inch away from the darkness. Looking down she saw many small forms appear on her flesh, eating and scratching away at anything they could touch. She screamed for someone to help her, though she knew no one could come. _

_Pain shot through her entire body as the blackness ate through her skin. She could feel her skin and muscles being torn to shreds. Moments later she could hear the sickening snapping and crunching sound as her left arm was ripped from her body. She began to fall back and landed on what was left of her shoulder. Kicking and screaming she fought back the attackers, eventually wriggling her right arm loose from her bonds. With her arm and body weight, she fought and kicked to get away from the evil things. Finally, after getting her left leg loose, she planted it on the ground and pushed with what remaining strength she had. She was released, but not before feeling her right leg being ripped from her body as well. She landed in a pool of blood and tears before the towering gate. Looking up, she could once again see the eyes staring at her, as if they wanted another chance to tear her other limbs from her. With a heavy creaking, the gates began to close the darkness beyond the gate, finally shutting them off from her. _

_Still in the middle of nothingness, Winry cried from the excruciating pain and began to pull herself farther away from the looming gate. Looking back, she could see the blood that trailed behind her. Wherever she was, she needed to get first aid before she bled to death. But she didn't even know where to start. Curling herself up into a ball, she sobbed and wearily called for help. _

She could hear the echoing sound of her pleas into the nothingness as the blood pooled around her… 

Gasping for breath, Winry woke and sat straight up in bed. Forgetting her arm was still injured she cradled it next to her stomach, trying not to cry out from the pain. It felt as though someone was driving another knife through the original wound. On top of that her missing limbs were stinging at their bases, as though they were getting ripped from her body yet again. Laying back flat and keeping her eyes tightly shut, she waited for the pain in her limbs to subside. The dream came every so often since her injuries, and she found that the pain would leave after a few minutes. As she predicted, the pain began to lift soon enough and she was able to relax her body once again. Thankful that the dream and its aftermath were over, Winry opened her eyes to see a concerned-looking Edward staring straight at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked cautiously.

Smiling slightly she nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I guess it was just my injury acting up--"

"You don't have to keep lying anymore, you know. " Edward interrupted.

Turning her head away him towards the wall, she replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look, I have the same dreams every once in a while. I knew what you were dreaming about by what you were mumbling while you slept." Ignoring him, she still stared at the wall, trying to hide the redness that formed on her cheeks from embarrassment. "Would you at least look at me?" he whispered.

Hearing the tone in his voice, Winry slowly began to turn towards her friend, finding the strength to lift herself up on her left arm and into a sitting position. Trying to lighten the mood, Edward smiled slightly, "Am I gonna have to catch you again?"

Lifting the corner of her mouth into a tiny smile Winry looked up to her him, "Yeah, I wanted to apologize for that yesterday. I don't think I really knew how weak I was…"

"Don't worry about it. You'll learn eventually that you're not capable of handling everythi--"

"And what exactly is THAT supposed to mean, shorty?" Winry interrupted, smiling a little more.

"WHAT! Who are you calling a shorty who-" Edward stopped his rant, which surprised the girl. He never backed down from one of her short jokes. Calming his nerves, he walked away from his friend towards a blank wall to collect his anger. A few moments passed before he turned back towards the bed. "Look," Edward said as he scratched the back of his head, "I…uh…I know this won't be enough, but…I just wanted…" Winry could see he was nervous by the way he kept his eyes glued to the floor. "I just wanted to apologize for all of this."

Silence passed between the two teenagers. Winry really didn't know what he was talking about; since it was because of her own free will that she was here at Central. What did he have to apologize about? Looking over, she saw him finally lift his head and look at her for an answer. Still confused, Winry replied, "Um, Edward…Why exactly are you apologizing? I brought myself here and enlisted to become a State Alchemist. It was my own fault I got stabbed because I kept my barrier down for so long. You wouldn't have anything to apologize _for_…"

He slowly began to walk back over to the girl's bed. "If I was at the house, none of _this_," he motioned towards her arm, "would have happened. I would have been able to stop it. If I was there, no one would have entered the house and hurt you. If I was there…" Edward trailed off his sentence.

Winry reached up and put her left hand on his shoulder. "Look, Ed. None of this is your fault. This would have happened whether you were there or not. And if you were there, then yes, things may have ended up different. Anyone of us could no longer be here. To have lost my arm and leg, to _me_, is nothing compared to what _any_ life is worth…"

Edward's head snapped up. "What? Your leg? Which one?"

Winry slowly lowered her legs over the side of the bed, and loudly tapped her right leg with her left hand. "I always found it kind of ironic that my limbs were the exact opposite of yours taken."

Anger surged through Edward as he thought of the horror his best friend went through. "Look," Winry said, "I know it wasn't your fault. I just wasn't strong enough to fight off that guy. Things happen for a rea-"

Winry was interrupted with the door suddenly opening to her room. A small nurse walked in, obviously to check on the girl, and was surprised to see her awake. Winry smirked at the woman. "Does anyone know how to knock anymore?" she joked.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry. It still is quite early in the morning and I believed you were still asleep. I was just coming in to check on your wound. Depending on how it is will determine when you can leave."

Edward moved to the side to let the nurse check the girl's arm. "Well, it still is leaking a bit around where you pulled the stitches out last night," the nurse began, causing an embarrassed blush to form on Winry's cheeks. "But it looks as though it will be okay in enough time. We'll go ahead and wash it out one more time, re-bandage it, then send you on your way!" Winry nodded at the good news and let the nurse gently clean the wound and re-bandage it. "Now, don't leave here and go rough-housing with it. It could easily re-open, and then you'd be right back here. I will get you a prescription for some ointment to keep in it to prevent it from getting infected, but it will be up to you to keep it clean. At the first sign of infection I want you back here right away, do you understand?"

Winry nodded her understanding and slowly stood up from the bed. Edward stood close by in case she fell again. Gaining her balance, the girl smiled and grabbed her coat and gloves off the back of the visitor chair and put them on. Thanking the nurse who had busied herself with getting the room prepared for the next patient, Winry walked over to the door and looked back to Edward.

"Well, shall we, fellow State Alchemist?"

"How is your wound, Thunder-Blade Alchemist?"

"It's doing better," Winry replied as she slowly saluted, "Thank you for your concern Colonel Mustang."

She could practically hear Ed roll his eyes behind her. "Though I was told that I couldn't beat on shorty for awhile…" She waited for the eruption, but turned around when she heard a large snort. He sat there on the couch with his arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently in the air. Apparently he was going easy on her for a while until she healed. She smiled and turned back to her superior.

Colonel Mustang watched the two in their silent fight and smiled slightly. "Well, I see we have someone here that can stand up to him. My, my, my…this will be an interesting division to govern. Now, Winry, I don't know if Edward has told you, but the rules are a little more…relaxed, for lack of a better term. If they weren't then his actions would have gotten him thrown into the brig many times now."

Again, Winry heard another grunt and snort behind her. "Since you are still injured after your exam yesterday, it will be a week or so before you begin your first mission. And do not expect me to let you three be together at all times-"

"Good, because a woman will slow us down a lot…" Edward muttered under his breath.

CRASH!

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN A WOMAN WILL SLOW YOU DOWN?" Winry yelled after slamming Edward to the ground with one swipe of her left arm. She stood above him fuming, "You're sooooo lucky I don't have my wrench with me!" Straightening herself up, she turned back to her superior officer to see he had pushed his chair back slightly, as if ready to flee if needed. "Sorry about that Colonel!" she saluted again. "I had to take care of some military business!"

"Brother? Are you okay?" Al whispered from the corner he was sitting in.

"ALPHONSE ELRIC, DO NOT HELP HIM!" she yelled, without even turning around. Smiling sweetly, "Is there anything else I need to be briefed of Colonel?"

Still trying to decipher what just happened, Mustang replied, "No, Winry. I want you to report to me as soon as the military physician has cleared you for duty. I will give you your assignment then."

Saluting a little faster this time, she replied, "Yes sir!" Bouncing on her heels, Winry turned around and reached down to pet Edward's head, then stepped over his twitching body, and out into the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about not updating yesterday everyone. We ended up having WAY more people here that I originally thought (about 14 total, 4 of them being children). I also had to take an online test and email a paper in yesterday, so I hope you understand! Anyway, here's chapter five of my story. I'll also be posting six, and maybe even seven. I also apologize for the length of this chapter. When I was editing the story, it just seemed logical to put certain sections together in chapters, so some may seem slightly shorter than others. On those occasions, I'll try to post two chapters at a time to make up for it.

Enjoy!

Chapter Five

"Here, mom and dad. This is a nice place by the window," Winry chimed as she placed the old picture on her nightstand. After her briefing in Mustang's office, she returned to her room to finish unpacking her luggage. Feeling a weight tug on her belt, Winry pulled her new State Alchemist watch out of her pocket and slowly caressed its fine craftsmanship. She still couldn't believe she passed the exam! Turning, she looked at her surroundings. The room wasn't big, but at least it was private. Sometimes alchemists may share a room with another, but since there were no other females the Fuhrer allowed her to have an older and more private room. In it was a simple bookcase that, instead of books, held an organized array of spare parts and wires for her and Edward's auto-mail. Next to her closet stood a door that led to her private bathroom. On the desk laid some of her pictures, memories from an easier past. She had put the picture of her and Edward by the river, as well as the one of her parents on the nightstand next to her small bed.

Pocketing her watch, Winry walked up to the window that stretched across the wall. She was at least four stories high, and thus had a terrific view of the surrounding headquarters. She was facing directly east, so the sun would be able to greet her in the morning when she woke up. Opening the window and looking down, she was able to spot an outside courtyard that connected to the cafeteria. It was close to dinnertime, and people were beginning to assemble. Even from her height she was able to smell the delicious food that was being cooked currently. Loudly, her stomach growled in protest, and she remembered that she didn't eat breakfast or lunch.

"I wonder if Ed is still mad at me from earlier," she said quietly to herself, then quickly shook her head is disbelief, "of course he's still mad at me! What am I thinking? Oh well, I'll get some dinner and try to find him afterwards to apologize. I was kind of mean to him earlier…I have GOT to get a shower first, I'm still wearing the stuff from yesterday!"

Winry gladly turned the water on and waited for it to get hot. Eagerly she took off her clothes and set some clean ones on the sink next to the shower. Finally when the temperature was just right, she carefully stepped in and let the hot water soothe her aching muscles. Making sure to keep her wound mostly dry, she scrubbed herself from head to toe and washed her hair. After cleansing, she stood there in the shower for what seemed like forever letting the hot water hit her muscles. _Well, all good things must come to an end…Unfortunately… _she thought as she turned off the water and stepped out to wrap her hair in a towel. Wrapping her body in another one, she grabbed the ointment she received earlier and began to clean her wound. Applying the ointment to the wound hurt a lot, but it had to be done. Finally, she wrapped the gauze around her arm to help prevent anything from getting in it.

Putting all of her dirty clothes in a pile to be washed, she walked over to her bed and began to put on the outfit she had already picked out Mustang informed her earlier that, since none of the uniforms would fit her because of her small size, she would be allowed to wear other clothing much like Edward had to until further notice. Winry chuckled to herself about this. _I would have loved to been there when Colonel told him that…_ Tonight she had picked out a pair of low-riding blue jeans that fit right, and a black tank top that barely showed her midriff. Even with her injured arm, she was able to put her bandana on with ease, having done it thousands of times before. After finding the boots she wore earlier, she grabbed her clean gloves and coat (one of the soldiers came by earlier and picked them up for cleaning), and put them on. Before leaving, she made sure to bring some cash and her key to the room. With one more loud growl from her stomach, she finally left to solve her hunger crisis.

* * *

After what felt like hours to her protesting stomach, Winry was finally able to locate the cafeteria. Apparently the news had already been spread around with her acceptance as a State Alchemist because most of the men turned away from her when she entered, and talked to other soldiers. Even though she was used to the staring and pointing, this time she felt slightly uncomfortable around all these strangers. There were a couple of enlisted women that walked around and ate with the men, but even then most kept their eyes on her. Standing as tall as she could, Winry looked around to see if she could find Edward or Al, but neither of them was around. "Thunder-Blade alchemist, right?" came a voice from behind her. 

Turning around, Winry was face to face with a soldier. By the looks of it he was in his mid-twenties. He had short, spiky black hair and deep blue eyes. He was at least six foot tall, maybe even more because she had to look up at him, even with wearing her boots. He was very handsome and proudly wore his military uniform. He looked at her again with his entrancing eyes, "Are you the new Thunder-Blade Alchemist?" he repeated. She found it very hard not to look at him.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Winry blushed and nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"About what?"

Blushing furiously she replied while waving her hand, "Oh nothing! Um…yes, I am the Thunder-Blade Alchemist, also known as Winry Rockbell! What's your name?"

Smiling at her kind voice and character, the soldier replied, "My name is William Chadwick." Bowing, he continued, "It is a pleasure to meet you Thunder-Blade Alchemist, also known as Winry Rockbell…"

Blushing again, she looked at the bowing man in front of her, "um, thank you. It's nice to meet you too."

William looked at the young girl in front of him. "Would you care to join me for dinner in the courtyard? It is nice outside this evening…"

Looking around and seeing most of the cafeteria look at the man who approached her, she reluctantly agreed. She really just wanted to eat alone before looking for Edward, but would feel bad to tell him no in front of the entire cafeteria, which was obviously watching the interaction. Grabbing a sandwich and drink, they both walked outside. Finding a clear table, the two sat down across from each other and began to eat their food. William looked over and saw that she had only grabbed a small sandwich, "Are you sure you do not want anything else? There is plenty in there for you."

Smiling, she replied, "No thanks. I was really hungry earlier, but the feeling seems to have gone away."

He nodded, "I see. It surprises me that you don't need much to keep your energy up. Some alchemists I know eat three times their own body weight if allowed to." Chuckling to himself, "I think that short one is the worst…"

"You mean Ed?" Winry asked as she saw William nod to her, "Oh he's been like that since I've known him. I've always wondered where it all went." Seeing the confusion on his face, she decided to explain more. "I've known him since we've been small. We lived right near each other and have been good friends for years."

A few minutes passed in silence between the two as they finished their meal. Leaning back in his chair, William looked towards the sky. "It definitely is a lovely night tonight." He could see Winry take her coat and gloves off and lean forward with her chin cupped in her hands as she stared along with him. He glanced over as he saw how the moonlight kissed her pale skin and glimmered off of her auto-mail. Not wanting to pry too far, William decided to bring up the exam. "I was able to watch the second part of the exam yesterday; the one where you got hurt. How is your arm doing anyway?"

Winry turned back to face her new acquaintance, then looked back to her injury. "Well, I guess it's doing okay for now. The nurses said it would take a week or so to heal enough to report for duty, so I'm supposed to just hang around until then. I'll be able to start my missions once I'm cleared. It's gonna take forever for this week to end," she finished as she sighed to herself.

William nodded his agreement. "I know what it's like. I was shot in the leg before and was out for a while. But do not fret, for there are many things to do within this city. I can show you around here if you'd like…"

Winry looked at his eyes again, then cleared her head and stared at the sky once more. "Maybe…thank you for your kind offer. I may take you up on it. I have seen some parts of this city, but never for very long."

"That's a shame. This city has many wonderful, small, and hidden places within it. You just have to know where to look." William paused for a moment. "I do have a question for you, though I do not wish to offend you." Seeing that she turned to look back at him, he continued, "Is that arm really different from having a real one? I know that people usually go through something devastating when they lose a limb, but does it function and feel any different?"

Winry sat back and contemplated her answer for a moment. "Well, auto-mail usually has to be attached to your nerves every time you change them out. The process is very painful, and no matter how many times you have to change them you will never get used to it. Especially if you have more than one auto-limb such as myself." Seeing the confusion across the man's face again, Winry turned in her chair and lifted up her jeans to show him part of her right leg. "Most people don't know I have more than one. Sometimes I don't like to show either of them to people I don't know, but most of the military saw my arm at the exam or heard about it from someone else…either way most people know about it. So I figure why try and hide it?"

The soldier sat and thought about the information just given to him. "You are much stronger than many of those who sit in the cafeteria. And at such a young age…" Seeing the irritation begin to build within the girl's eyes he grinned and waved his hands apologetically, "Not that it's a BAD thing…It just means you are much more powerful than many. That is something you should be proud of."

Seeing he was genuinely sorry, Winry nodded her forgiveness. She could see a lot of the people begin to exit the cafeteria. "Well, I do really need to be going. I'm going to find Edward and make sure he ate something. He's probably still studying in the library, so I'll go grab something to eat and bring it to him. "She laughed lightly to herself at the thought, "I don't know what that boy would do without me."

Standing up while Winry put her coat and gloves back on, William bowed to her. "He must be very lucky to have you in his life. It was a pleasure to meet you, Winry. I do hope that we may get together and explore the town."

Blushing for what felt like the millionth time, she said her goodbyes and made her way back inside the cafeteria before going to the large library on the other side of the compound.


	6. Chapter 6

I kept my word! Here's number six!

Warning: Tiny bits of fluff at the end of the chapter. Read at your own risk!

:c)

* * *

Chapter Six 

Winry found Edward and Alphonse in the library as she predicted. As soon as she saw Al, she motioned for him to be quiet as she snuck up on the sleeping form of her best friend. Ed was lying on the couch near the window as he always has; the book was lying open on his chest as he slept away. Winry snuck up to the back of the couch and looked over at the teen. His face was peaceful, though she could see the signs of weariness showing though slightly. She knew he was pushing himself too hard, but Edward would never reason with anyone when it came to getting Al's body back. She couldn't blame him. If she had a sibling and the same situation happened to her, she would be doing the exact same thing he is right now; she may be even worse. Opting not to wake him just yet, she set the bowl of rice and sandwich she brought from the cafeteria on the end table and walked over to where Al sat.

"How is your arm, Winry?" Al whispered as best he could. She looked over and saw it had bled through slightly. She would have to change it again when she got back to her room. "It's okay. I just need to be more careful with it." Motioning over to Edward, "How long has he been asleep?"

Al looked around his friend's head to see his brother sleeping. "He's been asleep for almost five hours now. He was up almost the whole time when you were in the hospital. I was outside the room, but could hear him talking; though I don't know if it was to you or him. He fell asleep on the couch not too long after we left the Colonel's office."

Winry's eyes looked to the floor in shame. "I feel kind of bad with what happened in Mustang's office earlier. If I would have known he was in such a grumpy mood from his lack of sleep I would have let him slide on that comment he made." She looked back up to Alphonse. "Is he still mad at me?"

The younger brother shook his head. "I don't think he is. He can never stay mad at you for long, Winry. He hates it when you two fight." The girl's eyes widened at his statement. "You seem surprised," he said, causing her to nod her head. Al closed the book he was reading and gently set it down with the rest. "You and Auntie Pinako are all that we have left. If something happens to me, Winry, then you two are all _he_ will have left…"

"But I thought he'd be angry with me for joining the military behind your backs…and not telling you about my…upgrades…" she said as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

"He was angry at first. You lied to him; to us. We believed you and Auntie Pinako were safe in Rizenbul. We were always worried that people would follow us and discover you two if we visited often. That's why we were never able to come by as often, or stay as long. The last thing we wanted to happen would be for one of you two to get injured. I think he may be blaming himself for what happened to you. I don't know what happened to cause you to have automail, and I'm not going to pry if you don't want me to know, but I do know he hasn't been himself since he saw you yesterday in the hospital." Checking on his brother again, Winry saw Al jump slightly and turned around to see Edward sitting on the couch, bent forward with his elbows on his knees.

Winry stood up quickly and started to walk over to him, "Edward, I'm so sorr-" but was interrupted when he raised his palm to quiet her. She stopped in mid-stride, and stood there wringing her hands. Slowly he stood up and turned to walk away.

"Edward, please listen to m-" again she was silenced when his palm rose in the air. Without turning back around, he walked out through a door and out onto the balcony overlooking another courtyard.

Winry slumped her shoulders, "He really _does_ hate me."

"Give him a few minutes, and then go try and talk to him. He just needs some time to think, " Al said reassuringly. Winry nodded and walked over to the couch Edward was just lying on. She picked up the book he was reading and saw it was a type of auto-mail book. She flipped through the pages until she came to the one that was folded weird. Then she remembered a page or so was sitting at odd angles when he must have fallen asleep. The weight of the book must have pushed down on them, causing a crease. Winry skimmed through the information and was surprised to find it was specifically on the process of reattaching the nerves when a limb is changed out. _What was he looking for? He knows firsthand what the process is…_ she thought to herself.

Wanting to read further into the book, but feeling guilty for having intruded into his studying, Winry laid the book back down onto the couch and looked towards the balcony. Edward was still standing out there leaning on the railing, looking off into the darkness of night. Light from the lanterns hanging outside danced off his hair and body, sending shadows to play off of nearby objects. "Al, I'll be back in a bit," she said as she stood up and walked over to the entrance of the balcony.

* * *

Edward did not move at all as she walked through the door and closed it behind her. She stood there with her hands folded in front of her for a few minutes before deciding to take a position a few feet away from him. Leaning with most of the support on her left arm, Winry gazed out into the same darkness that seemed to interest him. The silence was thick, and she dared not disturb it quite yet. She felt she had a lot of explaining and apologizing to do, and she didn't want to do it before he was ready to hear the whole thing. 

Winry looked over to see the face of a young man who had to grow up faster than he should have. His father left and disappeared when he was young; his mother died a few years later. Thought he was doing the right thing by trying to bring her back, but almost lost his only brother in the process. Sacrificing his arm and leg, he destined himself to wear metal limbs for the rest of his life. Now he's on a hunt for a way to return his brother's body back to him as well as his own limbs. _Then I have to be stupid and get stuck with automail, and run off to join the military. I'm just something else he has to worry about…_ she thought. She closed her eyes to stop the tears that threatened to break loose again, and tilted her head up to look at the open sky.

Edward watched Winry the entire time she was on the balcony from the corner of his eye. He was still irritated with her actions in Mustang's office earlier, but he did kind of deserve it after his comment. He was just still irate and angry at the time, though that was no excuse. His eyes looked straight ahead again when he saw her look at him. He wished he could hear what she was thinking.

After what seemed like forever of her staring at him, she closed her eyes like she was trying to hold something back, then looked skyward. Her attempt was not working, because he could see where the tiny tears leaked down her cheeks. He couldn't take it anymore. He hated it when she got upset, and it was his fault she was this upset anyway. If he hadn't pushed her away when he was in the library just moments ago, maybe then they could be joking somewhere, like they usually do. But things had changed. He hated pushing her away so many times, but he never wanted her to get hurt, which is what ended up happening anyway. He had to do something.

"Um…Winr-"

"Oh, Edward! I'm so sorry!" Winry wailed as she ran into his arms, catching him off guard. He had not expected _that_ to happen! She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, afraid to let go. If she let go, he might disappear again, and she didn't know what she would do if that happened anymore. She kept crying, oh how he wished he could make that sound disappear! Hesitantly at first, but becoming more comfortable with it, he let his arms wrap around her. Suddenly her legs gave out and they both fell to their knees. She curled herself up slightly and held herself against his chest, his arms providing another cocoon of safety.

"I swear I didn't mean it in Mustang's office earlier! Please don't hate me! It's all my fault…I don't want to lose you again…." Winry would trail off into another set of sobs, which Edward hated to hear. His heart broke at the sound of her fears. She really thought he hated her? He was never able to stay mad at her for more than a day, if even that. Sliding her bandana off, Edward smoothed out her hair with his hand, running his fingers through it. He, himself, felt like he would cry at any moment. Here he was blaming himself for everything, when she was blaming _her_self for everything!

"I don't hate you, Winry. I could never hate you…" he whispered into her ear, causing her to calm down somewhat. She sat back a bit and looked him in the eyes. He reached up and wiped the tear marks from her beautiful face. The moonlight shined off of her hair, making her look like an angel. He couldn't let his angel be upset. "But, but you weren't talking to me in there, and after what I did to you earlier _I_ would even hate me!" she sputtered as new tears began to form, but he reached up again and wiped them away with his hand.

"I was just trying to think some things over earlier, and I didn't want to be interrupted. There's been a lot going on lately, and I just needed a mome-"

"You heard everything Al and I were talking about, didn't you?" she interrupted. Trailing off, "You were awake when he looked back that second time…"

Edward looked away from Winry for a brief moment, trying to group his thoughts together. But the moment was too long.

"Do you really blame yourself for what happened to me? For what happened to my arm and leg?"

Closing his eyes, as he looked away, confirmed her suspicion. He didn't want to get upset in front of the girl in the state she was in, but what happened to her broke his heart every time he thought about it. He remembered what happened to himself when he experienced the gate, and he would never want anyone else to experience it, much less the girl in front of him.

Edward felt two hands pull his face back to look at her. Opening his eyes he looked straight at her. There were no more new tears, just worry written all over her face. "Edward, my arm and leg had nothing to do with you. I wasn't strong enough to--"

"That's where you're wrong," he interrupted while placing his hands on top of hers. A slight blush crept to her cheeks as she realized what she was doing, and she slowly withdrew her hands, placing them in her lap. Sighing, Edward stood up and took his place back looking over the balcony rail. He could hear the girl quietly stand up and move next to him, touching her metal arm with his unconsciously.

"The person you described; the one that came to your house when I wasn't there and could change forms? He is a homunculus…" He could hear the sharp intake of breath from his friend. "These past few years have been hell Winry." He admitted. "Ever since I had to put Al in that suit of armor I've been looking for ways to get his body back, as well as my limbs. Ever since I started learning alchemy from sensei, I wished I could become a great alchemist to help my search along. And this whole time…the reason we haven't been around much…" he sighed, "was to keep you and auntie safe. We didn't know who could be following us, and we didn't want anyone to hurt you guys. That's why we never really showed up unless it was necessary, and then left right afterwards."

Silence passed between the two, until Winry spoke, "And all this time I thought you were just using us as mechanics…that fixing your arm and leg was the only reason you came back…"

He turned to look at the girl. "I have never once thought that you were 'just my mechanic'…I love coming back to see you all. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I didn't want to risk your safety…If anyone saw us together, they might try to hurt you to get to me…and I don't know what I would do if something happened to you…"

Edward watched as the information sank into the girl's head. Turning her head to look at him, "you mean me and grams?"

Red flushed to his cheeks as he realized what he said. "Um, yeah! You and auntie…" He looked around to distract his attention for a moment and saw the bandage on Winry's right arm. "Is your arm okay? Did you just hurt it again?" She looked over and saw it had bled through slightly more. "Uh-uh…" she said, shaking her head slightly, I'm just gonna change it when I get back to my room. It's no big deal-"

"Come here, let me see it," Ed said, turning her around so he could look at it. Carefully he unwrapped the gauze around her arm, and realized it had bled more than she originally believed. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small bag, reached in, and pulled out some of the ointment.

"Where did you get that?" Winry asked. Squeezing some onto a cotton ball, Edward began to apply the stinging substance, "I told the nurse you may have problems remembering to change it, so she gave me extra medicine to do it for you…"

"What am I, a two year old?" she huffed, and turned her head away, not letting him see the pain she was feeling from the ointment. After making sure each side was covered in ointment, he gently wrapped it back up in new gauze. Turning her head back towards him, she smiled slightly. "Soooo…are you still mad at me? You know, for joining the military and keeping my auto-mail a secret?"

Edward put the small bag away in his pocket and beckoned for the girl to come over for a hug; much like the ones they would give to comfort one another when they were children. Winry blushed slightly as she leaned in and let him wrap his arms around her. The teenager rested his chin on her head and could smell the sweet scent of vanilla and plums from her hair. He spoke slowly, so his emotions would not take him over.

"When you were in the emergency room last night, I sat there and watched you sleep. I watched you suffer through your dreams. I don't ever want you to have to go through that again. I didn't know what I was going to do if I lost another person dear to me. I don't want you to have to go through what I go through, but now you're a dog of the military just as I am. If you ever need help, though, please know that I won't be far behind."

"Thank you, Edward…Thank you…" Winry replied, returning his hug. The two teens stayed like that for a few minutes, just relishing the feel of being in each other's arms, knowing that safety was never far away.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone, it's me. I've noticed there haven't really been a lot of reviews lately. Now, I'm not going to be like some of the authors that threaten to withhold chapters until a certain number of reviews are submitted, because that just kind of defeats the purpose of even _writing_ a story. But, I would like to hear what my fellow FMA fans think of this. Even if it's a few words, I would like to know how I'm doing.

(Review or I won't post the next thirty chapters! No…just kidding….)

So, without further adieu, here's the next chapter:

* * *

Chapter Seven

A few months passed since Winry completed her alchemy exam; she had already come back successful from her few simple assignments. Most of the attitudes from the enlisted men hadn't diminished, but Winry had finally learned to ignore them.

After returning early one morning from her latest assignment, Winry was slightly upset to hear that Edward and Alphonse were still away on their assignment, though they should be arriving back sometime that day or the next. Stretching out on her bed, she could see the morning sun still shining through her window onto her face. Tired, but knowing she couldn't sleep with the sun directly on her, the young alchemist got up from her bed. She changed from her sleeping outfit into a pair of black jeans and green tank top. Out of habit she put her hair up in a matching green bandana before grabbing her coat and gloves, and heading out the door.

In the cafeteria, Winry waited in line to get some fresh fruit for breakfast, then headed out to sit underneath her favorite tree. She quickly finished her food and leaned back to relax, closing her eyes as the sun warmed her body.

Within a few minutes of her quiet happiness, Winry heard someone slowly approach followed by a shadow that blocked out her precious sun.

"Well, I haven't seen you around here in awhile," came a voice from the shadow. Winry opened her eyes to see it was William standing before her in plainclothes. He was wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a white tank top with an unbuttoned blue shirt over it. "Well, they must have changed the uniform code while I was gone," Winry joked as she arched an eyebrow.

Confused, William looked down and realized it was his clothes she was referring to. "I wish," he laughed. "I'm off today, and we're allowed to wear regular clothes around here when off duty." He looked down at the young girl and smiled at her, "Something tells me you're also off duty today as well."  
She nodded, "Yeah, I don't have to give my report of the last assignment until tomorrow, but since I've got everything done for it already I decided to come out here and soak up a little sun."

"Well, if you're interested, I can show you around some of the city like I promised a few months ago…"

"Oh, no…That's quite all right," Winry said while she rubbed her arms, "I don't want to be of any inconvenien-"

"There's no way you would be an inconvenience," William interrupted. Extending a hand to help her up he continued, "Please, I insist…"

Winry looked at the offered hand, then back up again to William's face. She genuinely felt he meant her no harm and was just being nice. "Okay," she finally agreed and took his outstretched hand. He helped her up, and after grabbing her items from the ground; the two went to explore the city.

* * *

Winry had to admit to herself that the day had gone better than she thought it would have. William and she went to the marketplace to scope out the merchandise and see if anything sparked their interest. Then, at lunch, they bought some food from one of the small roadside vendors and took it to a nearby park. There they sat munching on hamburgers while watching children run and play carefree in the grass. They sat there under the sun for an hour or so while she talked about various things such as Rizenbul and her first few assignments. It didn't come across as being odd to the girl that he would rather have listened to her talk. He didn't go much into his past or family much. After awhile, he took her to a section of the town that catered to automail needs. There were many mechanics willing to fix problems in peoples' limbs, while others sold accessories. Winry was ecstatic as she browsed through all of the various parts, and picking out a few that she may need in the future.

Towards the evening, William could see the younger girl was getting tired, so he suggested they head back to Central and drop off her purchases, then head to dinner at the cafeteria. She agreed and he followed Winry to her room to stow away the bags that held the 'few' parts she bought from the automail shops. William sat on her bed while she arranged the parts on the bookcase. Noticing the pictures on her nightstand, he picked up the one of her parents and commented, "So how does your mother and father feel about their beautiful daughter becoming a rough-and-tough state alchemist at such a young age?"

William saw Winry pause for a few moments before continuing her arrangement. "If they were still alive, I'd hope they'd be proud of me."

"I'm sorry," He responded after a moment. "I didn't know…"

Winry turned around and walked over to William. Gently, she removed the picture from his hands and replaced it on the nightstand. "Don't worry, it happened a long time ago. But…Since I'm done putting my parts away, are you ready to get some food?"

Smiling apologetically, William nodded his head and joined her on the walk to the cafeteria.

* * *

"Hey look! It's Edward! It looks like he just got back from his last assignment, so let's go sit with him…"

Winry drug William and their trays (he insisted on carrying hers) over to the almost empty table. Plopping herself down, she noticed the surprised Edward putting the book he was reading on the seat next to him. After a moment he realized who it was and smiled at her, "Hey Winry, it looks like you survived another one…"

"As if you thought I couldn't?" she teased back. She turned around and saw William standing behind her with the two trays and jumped up to help him. "Sorry! It looked easier to carry than that!" She apologized as she helped him set his food down on the table across from Ed. She turned back to introduce her friend, "Edward, this is William. He's a part of the military here at Central."

Taking her coat and gloves off, she placed them on the seat next to Ed and sat down. "Since I don't have to give my report until tomorrow, and he was off today, he decided to show me around the city." She began to cut her food while talking. "There were a lot of cool places around there, and so were all the automail shops! Edward there were so many of them with all these fine tools and gadgets, I didn't know where to start! And finally…Hey, what's wrong?"

Winry had looked up and noticed Ed and William were staring at each other, and neither with a pleasant expression. "Um, is there something I missed here?" William dropped his looked and smiled at his new friend, "No, nothing's wrong. I think we mistook each other for someone else." Seeing the confusion written on the girl's face he continued, "Actually, Winry. I think all the excitement we had today wore me out, so I'm gonna head back to my room and go to bed. I have to be up early tomorrow." He stood up and began to gather his stuff. "Maybe the next time we're off we can tour some more of the city?" She nodded and stood up to hug her new friend. As he hugged her, William whispered in her ear, "We can go wherever you want next time, okay?"

Before he could get a response, he released her from the hug and grabbed his stuff before leaving the cafeteria. Winry still stood and looked to where her friend retreated. Turning back to Edward, Winry questioned, "Um, Ed? What just happened? That's not a normal guy-thing is it?"

"I don't like him."

Surprised at his sudden answer, Winry sat back down in her seat and stared at her friend. "What? What do you mean you don't like him? You only met him for what, like two minutes?" Edward continued to stare where William exited the room. Slowly he brought his eyes over to meet hers.

"I said, I don't like him."

"Okay, I got that much. What I'm asking is, why?"

He couldn't believe she didn't know what happened within the last few minutes. She was too busy cutting her food and _talking_ that she didn't see a damn thing. The thought still sent chills down his spine. "Look, I don't know exactly what it is, but I don't think he's good to hang around." Winry crossed her arms in defiance, "And why not?"

Seeing the silent contemplation running through the boy's mind, Winry became too impatient to wait any longer. She began to stand up and gather her things to leave, when she felt a hand grab her arm. Looking back, she no longer saw the anger in his eyes. _Maybe he's just cranky from his last assignment, that's why he's acting all weird_, Winry thought to herself. She sat back down and sighed, but decided to listen to what he had to say.

Winry had not seen what happened at the table while she was talking. William seemed all cheery at first when she sat down, but the moment she began talking he turned to Edward and glared at him. It almost seemed like he was a different person at that moment. William, knowing Ed was watching him, looked back at Winry with the same look, but smiled slightly. Then, turning back to Edward, he almost seemed to silently chuckle to himself. Edward didn't know what all the looks were about, but knew he didn't like them one bit. Neither of them apparently knew the true agenda for this soldier, and Edward was determined to find out.

"Winry, just promise me you'll be careful around this town. Central is a lot bigger and more dangerous than Rizembul…" Sighing, Winry crossed her hands over her chest and nodded. "There's just something not right about that guy. Be careful around him."

Winry sighed again, "Let's just drop it. You both are giving me a headache." She pushed her food away from her, "I'm not even hungry anymore. Oh well, at least it'll mean I'll get a good breakfast before giving my report tomorrow…"

"How did it go anyway?"

"Weeeelllll…I was going to tell you both about it before all that weirdness happened. But anyway," Winry huffed as she sat her chin on both of her palms. "I don't think the Colonel is taking me seriously. These few assignments have been so simple. I've just been mainly catching weak criminals." Trying to stifle a yawn, she continued, "It's like he doesn't want to let a girl be in a real mission…"

"Maybe he's just testing you to see how you would _do_ in a real mission," said Edward after a moment.

Sighing to herself, Winry replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just wonder when it will be." Looking over to Ed, Winry watched him turn his head down to stare blankly at his food. "Well? How did yours go? Did you find anything else out on the stone?"

The girl knew the answer by his silence and the hard stare into the table. "Don't worry, Edward. You'll find out something eventually—"

"Eventually is too long!" Ed yelled as he banged his fists against the table. "It's already been three years and we're still no closer! Every time we get _so_ close, but then something happens and we have to start at square one again…" Ed looked around to see a few people in the cafeteria turn to look at his outburst. Turning back towards his friend, he felt bad for yelling. "I'm sorry, Winry," he apologized after seeing her hurt look, "It's just difficult having to see him go through all of this."

Ed felt Winry place her hand on his forearm, and unconsciously placed his own hand on top of hers. "It's okay," she said soothingly, "Everything will work out…"

"Yeah," he replied, "I hope you're right." Looking down, he blushed and pulled his hand away. "It is getting late though, and you should get some rest. You have to give your report in the morning, right?"

Winry nodded her head. It was getting to be pretty late, and she had been up the previous night traveling back to Central. Rubbing her eyes, the teenager tried to stifle a yawn. Edward smiled as he stood up and began to clear the table of both their trays.

"Here," he said as he picked up the stacked trays and his book, "Let's dump this and I'll walk you back to your room. You wouldn't want to fall asleep while walking, would you?" Smiling at her friend's joke, Winry replied, "okay, fine."

* * *

The two teenagers began their walk back to Winry's room. Fortunately, hers wasn't too far down the hall from his own. Winry tried to contain yet another yawn as she fumbled with the door key in her hand. Seeing the girl have so much trouble due to her constant yawning, Edward took the key from her just as she brought her hand up to cover another one. As soon as he opened the door, Winry stumbled into her room and collapsed on her bed. Hugging her pillow, the girl relaxed and began to fall asleep on top of her sheets. Sighing at his friend's antics, he walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Are you gonna be okay now?" he asked Winry, as he leaned against her wall.

"Mm-hmm," the girl mumbled in her half-asleep state. Edward looked and realized she was still in the clothes she had worn all day, including her boots. Sighing, he walked over to the bed and sat on the end by her feet. He untied the girl's boots as quietly and gently as he could, so as not to wake her. Taking off her last boot, Edward noticed the large amount of metal attached to the shoe, and realized this helped her when she wanted to levitate in the air; like she did at the exam. He cautiously took off her gloves and bandana, and was relieved that the girl stayed asleep the entire time. Since there was _no_ way he was going to try and change the rest of her clothes, Ed decided to let her sleep in what she was wearing. Carefully, he rolled her over and worked the sheets out from under her, then covered her slim form with the thin sheets. Winry continued to sleep, lying on her stomach with the pillow between her face and arm. Ed placed his hand on her left arm, which was facing up, and felt its cold metal.

As he frowned to himself, which he often did when thinking about Winry having automail, a row of pictures that sat on her nightstand caught his eye. Kneeling in front of the small table, he recognized the picture of her parents. Paying his silent respect, he picked up the one directly next to it.

Edward studied this picture intently. It looked somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it. Winry and he were sitting on a hill facing the river by their houses. She had her head leaning on his shoulder, while he had his arm around her waist. _That's…I remember this…_ he thought to himself. Then he remembered Alphonse had snuck up and taken the picture of his friends, causing Ed to chase his younger brother back to the house. Before he could retrieve the photo, Al had already hid the camera. Chuckling silently, Edward couldn't believe he had been so shy and bashful when it came to the girl. Gently, he placed the picture back on the table and turned back to the bed to look at Winry.

_She looks so peaceful right now. Like nothing could bother her. If only she could stay that peaceful. If only none of this would have happened…_

The teen was torn from his thoughts as Winry began curling her shivering body into a ball to get warmer. Even with her coat and jeans, along with those sheets, she was still got cold easily. Ed stood up silently and took his coat off, then laid it on top of the sleeping girl. After a few moments, he heard a soft sigh as the girl uncurled somewhat and her hands reached out from under the sheet to pull the coat closer to her face.

"Ed…ward…" he heard a small voice from the sleeping girl. He smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, leaning closer to her sleeping form. "Get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning…" he whispered into her ear. Walking towards the door, he quietly opened it, trying not to wake her. Edward exited her room, but before he closed the door, he stuck his head back in to get one more look at her sleeping form. Finally, he gently closed the door, and headed back to his room to get some well-deserved rest.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello again everyone! Well, here's the next chapter as I promised! I do admit I'm a bad author; I almost forgot to post this one tonight (slaps hand against forehead). The weekend is coming up, so there will be a few extra chapters posted. Saturday I will post before going out with friends for my birthday fun-time. I'll be turning 23 tomorrow!

One more thing. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I wanted to explain my real reason for writing this story. First of all, I was getting sick and tired of reading all of this Ed/Roy slash (no offense slash writers!). I just don't prefer to read it. And most of the Ed/Winry stories I've read have just had her sitting at home being depressed that Edward hadn't come back yet. I think my problem is that I've been watching WAY too much Gunslinger Girls and Elfenlied (my new addiction…great series though there is a TON of blood/gore/violence and nudity). I also bought Appleseed a month or so ago and really enjoyed watching the action from the main female character. I'm not trying to insult anyone who has written Ed/Winry stories, because we all know there aren't enough out there. I just wanted to take the whole story, add some weirdness into it, and use a blender to mix it all up! The Winry character in the anime and manga has such a great personality; I just wanted to give another aspect to her already well-written self, and give her a bigger part in Edward's life!

I've also tried to write one-shots but failed miserably at it. It just seems to me that I can't put any detail in it, which makes it seem flat and one-dimensional.

Either way…off to study kanji for Japanese class tomorrow…Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Eight "Winry," came the voice from First Lieutenant Hawkeye, "The Colonel will see you now." 

The girl stood up from the seat outside his office and slowly walked inside. She had given her report almost two hours ago, but as she was leaving he informed her to wait outside while he listened to Edward's report. She thought it would only take a few minutes, since her report wasn't very long itself. She saw William walking by while she was waiting, and they talked for a few moments before he had to get back to his section. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the First Lieutenant came to retrieve the girl.

Walking in, she saw Edward sitting on the couch, looking very displeased. Alphonse stood back in the corner, to stay out of the way. Standing towards the door she saluted her superior officer and stood still. Mustang, still finding it humorous she felt the need to be so formal in front of him, beckoned for her to sit on one of the couches. Quickly, she chose the one across from her brooding friend, and sat down to wait for the Colonel's instructions.

"Once again I'd like to congratulate you for your report this morning, Winry," Mustang said after a moment, "It was very precise and to the point, unlike your friend's report just now." The comment earned a grunt from Edward, and Winry shot him a look for being so disrespectful. "Now, I have been thinking about our conversation after your report this morning," he continued, ignoring the response from the boy, "and I have decided you are ready for a more difficult task."

Winry smiled, "Thank you, Colonel. I would like to be more useful."

The older man nodded. "This is why I'm sending you on a mission with Edward and Alph--"

"What!" Edward interrupted, as he sat straight on his couch, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Ignoring his outburst, Mustang continued talking to Winry, "I do not want to send you alone, so I have decided to pair you up with someone you're familiar with." Winry nodded at this information. A small smile began to form on her face. She was finally going to be able to go on a _real_ mission!

"You two, and of course you Alphonse if you wish, will be sent to a town called New Heissgart. It has been rumored that many outlawed alchemists have been gathering there as of late. Some keep to themselves, but most find ways to harass and cause disturbances within the town. First of all, I want you three to round up as many of these outlaws as you can, and try to find the reason behind their grouping."

The two teenagers stood, as Al joined them from behind. "Take as long as you need to, but please try to be swift in your investigation. The alchemist killer is still not apprehended, but there have been numerous sightings, so he can turn up anywhere," Mustang stated while looking straight at Winry, "which is why I'm not sending _any_ alchemist alone for a while."

The trio nodded, though Edward still didn't seem to enjoy the information. "You're train leaves at noon, which gives you an hour or two to pack. Dismissed." All three teens saluted the Colonel and exited the room. Even before the door was shut began the complaining from Edward.

"I can't believe his ass! What is he thinking?" griped Ed. "I hate it when he gets his pompous attitude and flaunts it around everywhere. I wish I could just rip his head off sometimes…"

"Edward! Just what is your problem?" interrupted Winry as they were down the hall from Mustang's office. "Yeah, I know you hate the guy, but he's your freaking superior officer. You need to show a little more respect!"

"Respect? I'll show him respect, all right…the respect can be shoved right up his—"

"Brother!"

Edward stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around to see the two other teenagers glaring at him with their hands on their hips. "What? Can't I hate him?"

Winry crossed her hands over her chest and exhaled, "Look, I know you _really_ don't like him, but you got yourself into the military. There are just some things you have to put up with. Let's stop fighting over this and start packing. We don't have much time before the train leaves." Edward finally admitted defeat and nodded his head. Winry headed back to her room, while the boys went to theirs and began packing.

* * *

While she packed, Winry decided to leave her door open. She enjoyed listening to the people walking back and forth through the hallway as she packed a few outfits to take with her. She figured she'd pack a few days worth, and if they were there any longer than that, then she'd have to do laundry. _Edward better not expect me to do his_, she thought to herself. The image of Edward doing his own laundry caused the teenager to chuckle. 

"What's so funny?" came a voice from outside the door. Winry looked up to see William leaning on her doorframe. She smiled as she put the last outfit into her bag, "I thought you had to be at another section?"

"Well, I heard you were leaving, so I took a break to come say bye."

"That's nice to know you're thinking of me. Thank you, William."

"Not a problem. So, where are they sending you this time?"

"It's a place called New Heissgart. Edward, Alphonse, and myself are catching the twelve o'clock train and going straight there. I have no idea where it's at, but it might be fun."

"It's a little ways from here, if you leave at noon, you should get there by nighttime," replied William. "But why is Mustang sending two alchemists and that guy's brother along too? What's the big deal? Is it about that Scar guy?"

Winry nodded, "No, it's not about him at all, but since he hasn't been apprehended yet, Mustang's not sending any alchemist on a mission alone."

William laughed, "You'd think they would send someone bigger then that Edward guy! I wouldn't feel very safe around him…Oh, I'm sorry," the man coughed, "I forgot you were good friends with him. I hope you didn't take offense to what I said."

Winry smiled slightly and shook her head as she began to walk around the room finding loose odds and ends that she might need. Picking up her wrench and screwdriver, she turned back around to find William standing right behind her. Screeching from being surprised, Winry dropped the tools and took a step back. William blushed and apologized for scaring her as he bent down to pick up the items.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you like that," he said as he handed her the tools. Taking a step back, William looked at her intently, "there's something different about you today, though I couldn't figure it out earlier when I saw you…"  
Winry raised an eyebrow in confusion, and began looking at herself in the mirror to find what was wrong. "That's what it is!" William exclaimed, "you're actually wearing something besides those jeans and tank top."

Sure enough, Winry realized she was wearing a long dress, which helped to hide her automail leg. The dress had long sleeves, which also helped to hide her arm. She silently missed the days where she could wear one of her sleeveless sundresses. She didn't even realize what she threw on after she jumped out of the shower; she had woken up so late that morning. William laughed at his discovery, "You look good today, Winry. I mean, not like you _don't_ look good any other day, but today you're dressed like…um…a girl…"

She blushed at his compliment, "Well, since I _am_ one, then I can dress like one once in awhile. It's those non-females that you have to worry about." She shivered slightly remembering the confrontation with Barry the Chopper a few years ago. That had been shortly before her automail incident happened. That whole period of her life she would rather forget.

"Are you cold? Maybe you should put a jacket on or something," William stated, bringing the girl out of her thoughts. He reached over to rub her arms, but she pulled away slightly and continued her packing. "No, I'm fine, thank you for your concern though. It's very sweet."

William nodded and began to step towards the door. He leaned against the doorframe again and watched Winry pack for a few more minutes. The two friends stayed in silence, each of them in their own separate world.

"Well, I need to be getting back to work," William finally said after a few minutes, "They'll be coming to look for me soon if I don't go back."

Winry looked up to him as she zipped her packed bag and nodded. She walked over to the doorway, and reached up to give him a hug. "Thank you for coming by, it was very thoughtful of you." William returned the hug and whispered in her ear, "I'll be waiting for you to come back, so don't go off and get killed by that Scar fellow." Slowly pulling away from the hug, Winry looked at the soldier confused just as she heard someone clearing his throat from behind her friend. William moved out of the way for Winry to see it was Edward that was coming to see if she was done packing. William grinned at Ed and bowed in front of the girl, before saying goodbye and walking down the hallway. Winry could do nothing but stare as the man retreated yet again.

"What was he doing here? How does he even know where your room is?" questioned Edward.

It took a moment for Winry to shake the meeting from her head; she would have to think about it later, because she still had a train to catch. She rubbed her cold arms and looked up to her old friend, "He came up here before we went to the cafeteria last night. I had a lot of bags, so he carried them up here for me."

Edward looked down the hallway William had walked while Winry explained. He turned back to see her rubbing her right arm as if it were cold. "Are you okay?" The girl nodded and looked up again, and suddenly looked as if she remembered something. "Oh! Thanks for reminding me Ed, I almost forgot something!" Looking confused, Edward watched the girl bound back into her room, and seconds later, reappear with his red coat in her hands. "I guess you laid it down and forgot it last night or something." Blushing, she handed the coat back to her friend.

He laughed slightly as he received it, "No, you were just getting cold as I was about to leave, so I left it here for you. Those sheets are pretty thin; trust me, I know."

Smiling at his nonchalant attitude, Winry smiled, "Thank you anyways. That was very nice of you."

Nodding his acceptance, he peeked behind her to see her bag was packed. "Well, are you ready to head out?"

"Yeah," Winry replied. She turned around and did a quick check again to make sure she didn't miss anything. Edward walked inside and picked up her bag, and waited for her to grab her coat and gloves.

"Hey, Ed?" Winry asked as she saw him look at the pictures on her nightstand.

"Mmmm?" he mumbled as he picked up the picture that included himself and the girl, causing her to blush slightly.

"I know I should probably know already, but I don't. Do you think you can explain the whole 'alchemist killer' situation to me on the train? I haven't heard much about him, except from what is listed in newspaper articles, but I would like to know what to look out for." She watched as Edward placed the picture back and turn to stare at her.

"You mean Mustang hasn't told you yet?"

She shook her head, "No, he told me some other…important stuff…but nothing about him. Maybe he thought I knew all about it from knowing you."

Edward could see the girl fight to keep her quickly rising anger under control, and decided to not pry into what she was told. "Sure, I'll tell you later. Just remind me…"

After checking her room again, Winry finally decided she was ready, and they both exited her room to pick up Alphonse and head to the train station.


	9. Chapter 9

Well, it's Saturday, and I'm about to get showered and clean-like for friendly gathering soon for my and my friend's birthday tonight! I wanted to go ahead and post this and chapter 10 before I left, and (since I'm feeling nice wink wink) will most likely post 11 tomorrow morning or afternoon. I went out last night to a local club and had lots of fun, so hopefully tonight will be a repeat! And thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! Thank you for making me feel old! (Just kidding)

Either way, I'm happy to be getting more reviews, so here's the next two installments!

Note: I want to apologize beforehand for this short chapter, but I couldn't really find another place to cut it at. Please don't hate me!

* * *

Chapter Nine 

"I thought we were never going to get here!" exclaimed Winry as she stepped off the train, dragging her bag behind her. The trip had taken all afternoon, and Winry could still see some of the setting sun in the distance. She stretched her sore limbs as she waited for the two brothers to exit the train, while looking around at her surroundings. Even for being a newer city, New Heissgart seemed pretty run-down. Homeless citizens huddled together in alleyways to keep warm during the cold nights, and small kiosks littered the train station; the owners sold their wares to any interested tourists. Edward and Alphonse exited the train to see Winry gazing around her, and Edward could see she was already checking out the city. Walking up, he placed a hand on her shoulder to bring her out of her concentration. She turned and smiled at her friend, "Let's get going!" She began to walk off without Ed and Al, "It shouldn't be long before we find an inn."

"How do you get used to all that traveling?" Winry asked as the two brothers caught up with her, "I thought I would go crazy if I was on there another hour." She turned around to face her friends, walking backwards. Edward shrugged at her question and glanced towards the ground, "It's never really bothered me before. I just kind of zone out after awhile."

"Well that explains why you weren't talking most of the time. And to think I thought I did something wrong agai-" Winry was cut off as she walked straight into a local citizen, knocking both him and his pile of bags over. Scrambling to her feet, she apologized as she helped the man up, "Oh no! I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have been walking like that if I not familiar with where I am!" The man, receiving help from Winry, stood up and brushed himself off. Edward and Alphonse reached down to pick up his bags, while Winry rushed to fix the man's carvings that broke when they spilled out of the bags. She quickly repaired the items using her alchemy and placed them back in the man's bag before handing it to him. "Here you go, mister. They're as good as new!"

The man stood there astonished after watching the girl's work. He quickly shook his head and glared at the girl and sneered, "Why are you here, you alchemist? What has this city done to deserve your brutality?"

"But sir, I'm not one of those outlaws. I'm here to help." Seeing the man's distrust still, Winry reached into one of the pockets on her dress and pulled out her pocket watch. "I'm a state alchemist. I'm going to rid your city of those out-"

The man closed the distance between himself and Winry, "So you sold your soul to be a dog of the military, and you expect people to thank you for that?" His face was inches from hers as he continued yelling, "Missy, I don't care who you are, but you might want to leave town. An alchemist is an alchemist, whether a dog or not…"

The man had raised his hand to strike the girl during his last statement, but was stopped as Edward stepped up and grabbed his wrist inches before it would have hit her face. He had quickly pulled Winry back by the wrist and placed himself between the two before the blow fell. The man jerked his wrist out of the boy's grasp and glared at the teen, while Edward glared back at him. Silence surrounded the area as the two males continued to stare at each other. Winry stood directly behind her friend, not moving from the place he put her. She fought with her emotions, and felt the tears welling up behind her eyes, but forced herself to not let them fall. The girl couldn't understand the hatred some people showed for the help they receive.

Alphonse looked from where he stood at the scene before him. Edward had been standing next to him while Winry was handing the bags back to the man. Al could see the anger in his brother's face from the treatment his friend was receiving. Just as the man was raising his hand, and before he could do anything to stop it, he felt Edward leap from his side and quickly place himself between the two. That man had just tried to hit Winry! Al had begun to walk forward to comfort the girl as the two men continued to stare at each other, but stopped as the man suddenly backed up. He still glared at the trio, and spit on the ground near Ed's feet.

"You three had better leave town soon, before the others know you're here. But then, I don't care if you get killed or not. It's just less alchemists to put up with in this world," he sneered as he walked off down the road. Edward continued to watch the man walk down the road, making sure he wasn't coming back for more, but finally turned around when he heard Winry moving behind him. She had walked over to where her bag sat on the ground, and picked it up. Looking around at her surroundings, she quickly wiped her eyes before turning back to the brothers.

"Well, shall we?" she said sadly, and motioned to the inn that was less than two blocks away. "I told you we didn't have to look very far," she tried to joke as she turned around and walked towards the building.

* * *

The trio checked into two rooms without any more incidents. The owner informed them that, even though it was beginning to get late, they would still be serving dinner for another hour or so. The teens nodded in agreement and went upstairs to unpack their belongings. Winry changed out of her dress into the more comfortable jeans, tank top, and coat she had become accustomed to, and went next door to the brothers' room to see if Ed was hungry. She was starving as the trio got off the train earlier that evening, but the confrontation with the local man took away her entire appetite. Since she hadn't eaten all day, Winry knew she was going to have to force something down to keep her strength up. 

Edward opened his door just as Winry was about to knock on it, surprising the both of them. She could see inside that the boys had already spread out some of the borrowed books from the library. "Oh, I didn't know you two were busy already…I was just wondering if you were hungry, but I'll leave you two to study then," she said as she turned around to leave.

"That's funny," Ed said as he smiled and scratched the back of his head, "I was just coming to your room to see if you wanted to grab some dinner downstairs. Al told me to go on ahead since he didn't need to eat." Winry nodded as Edward exited his room and shut the door, "Good timing, though, huh," he joked, eliciting a small smile from his longtime friend. He knew she was still upset from earlier, but didn't know what he could do to make her feel better.

The two teens walked downstairs and found an empty table in the corner of the small dining room. Winry was quiet most of the time, barely even registering the waiter when he came by to take their order. Ed watched as she glanced at all the patrons from the corner of her eye.

After eating their meals, the teens sat in silence, watching the rest of the room. This area of the inn turned into a bar during the night hours. Most people were sitting with friends, drinking alcohol and laughing at badly told jokes.

"Edward?" Her voice brought him out of his trance, and he turned to face the girl. "Why do people hate us so much?"

He sighed as he contemplated his answer, "Not _all_ people hate us. There are just some who dislike us for who we are: lapdogs of the military. We are the weapons they send out first in a conflict because of the damage we can do. Not all alchemists are good people, so some people don't like us because of bad experiences they have had with those alchemists. Others just don't like us because we are different from them."

Edward looked up to see his friend in silent contemplation, "We aren't here to make friends. We're here to do what we're told, and we can't please everyone…"

Winry looked up from her thoughts, and softly smiled, "Thanks. That helped a lot."

He grinned back, "Anytime."

Edward watched as Winry became more comfortable and lively instead of quiet and sullen like she was just a few moments ago. She sat up straight and straightened the gloves on her hands, then stretched her legs again. "I still can't believe how long that train ride took. And to think, the trip to Central from Rizenbul took even longer, but I had my automail pieces to tinker with to pass the time. I'm just gonna have to get used to all that traveling, since I may have to do it more often now."

Ed leaned back and rubbed the back of his neck, "It's not _that_ bad. I find it gives me a lot of time to think about stuff like the stone, and how to get our bodies back."

"Oh, so that's why you were looking so pissed off and not talking to me half the time," she laughed when he scowled at her comment. "Well," Winry said while looking around the inn, "this town doesn't look terribly big, even from what I saw at the station, so why would there be so many alchemists wanting to gather here?"

Winry saw a few people shift their gaze from the corner of her eye. She took her palm and hit her forehead with it, realizing her idiot comment. "Nevemind, I'm not interested in that subject anyway," she sighed looking up to see the silent agreement on Edward's face.

_I probably just let everyone in here know what we're supposed to be doing. Way to go, Winry,_ she thought, chastising herself. Standing up, she placed enough money to cover her meal and tip, and waited for Ed to do the same before walking upstairs. From the corner of her eye, she could see some people watch the two teens descend the stairs. _I hope I just didn't do something stupid_, she hoped in her mind.


	10. Chapter 10

Yay for fun action-filled chapters…

* * *

Chapter Ten 

_Pain shot through her entire body as the blackness ate through her skin... Left arm was ripped from her body...Right leg ripped from her body as well...Pile of blood and tears…Gates began to close the darkness beyond the gate, finally shutting them off from her…She could hear the echoing sound of her pleas into the nothingness as the blood pooled around her…_

Winry awoke with a start, the dream leaving her two limbs feeling like they were on fire. Gasping for breath, she reached up to turn on her lamp, and pulled the sheets up to her chest in an attempt to calm down. Wiping perspiration from her forehead, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand. Her leg still hurt, but wasn't unbearable as it was a moment ago. She stretched her left shoulder, sending shots of pain throughout her entire torso. Sighing, she changed from her nightgown to a clean pair of pants and tank top, knowing she would not be able to go back to sleep. Winry walked over to her dresser and picked up her watch, then used the mirror to straighten her hair out and put it in a bandana.

Grabbing her coat and gloves, Winry walked over to the door leading to her balcony, and quietly stepped out into the cool autumn air. It was still the middle of the night from the looks of things outside in the town. Apparently there was an alcohol curfew, so there were no people wandering the streets in search of open bars. The air seemed still as Winry went to lean on the rail surrounding her balcony.

"Couldn't sleep?" came a voice from her side.

The surprised girl yelped in surprise at the voice, and looked around, only to find it was Alphonse sitting on his own balcony using the outside lights to read one of the many books sitting on the floor. "What are you doing up so late, Winry?"

"Yeah, Al, I couldn't sleep," Winry said while clutching her chest to calm her heart down. She had not expected anyone to be out here at this time of night! She finally calmed down and walked over to the side of the balcony facing her friend, and leaned again on the railing, "What are you reading?"

"Just another book on alchemy. Brother and I believe that one of these books may hold the key to getting our bodies back. I read while he sleeps since I don't need any rest. I'd rather read out here instead of keeping him up with the light," Winry nodded in understanding.

"Did you have another nightmare?" He asked quietly. Winry jerked her head in his direction with surprise written on her face, "Brother has them every once in awhile, so I guessed you did too…"  
She lowered her eyes to the ground while rubbing her left arm, "Yeah, I just woke up from one a few minutes ago. I hate them so much because it always takes a minute for my body to readjust to the automail." She stretched out her metal arm and leg, "See? They're still tingling a little, and it's been at least 10 minutes since I woke up…"

A crashing sound caused Winry and Al to jerk their gaze to the ground. Two cats ran out from an alley with a trash can lid rolling after them. Sighing to herself, she turned back to a chuckling Al, "I'm paranoid now; even a couple of cats can freak me out…"

Two loud thumps sounded behind Winry, but before she could turn around, someone had grabbed her hands while another covered her mouth and held a knife to her throat. "Now we're going to be a good little girl, aren't we?" came a gruff voice from behind her. She attempted to protest, but felt the edge of the blade press slightly into her skin, making a small cut. Winry looked and saw four men surrounding Al. He was not resisting at the moment because of the guy holding the knife to his friend's throat. He didn't want to startle him and make him cut her more. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw more men congregating on the ground outside of the inn.

"Didn't you hear what I told you? I said for you to be good and stay still. Don't make me get rough with you missy." She could feel the second man trying to get her second hand in a contraption that prevented her from clapping her hands together, but she wouldn't let him pull it close enough. The man with the knife grabbed her ponytail and yanked back on it hard, causing her to yelp loudly. "What did I just tell you! Do it again and I'll kill you right he-"

Without giving the man enough time to finish his threat, Winry kicked her right leg back and heard the sickening crunch of the knife man's kneecap. He screamed loudly in pain as he fell to the balcony floor. As he fell, he slashed the knife at the girl, cutting her right side of her stomach in the process. Without pausing, Winry wrenched her hand out of the second man's grasp, whirled around and quickly grabbed his hair, then slammed his face down on her right knee. She could hear Al quickly dispensing the men on his balcony, and turned to face the first attacker. He lay crumpled on the ground, holding his kneecap with one hand, while still arming himself with the knife in the other. Looking skyward to make sure there were no more men waiting to ambush her, Winry grabbed her coat and gloves and put them on. The man attempted to stand up on his good leg, using the balcony rail for balance, "You bitch! What the hell are you?"

Winry grinned as she snapped her fingers, and caused the knife to fly from the man's grasp over the edge of the rail. "I'm an alchemist, and you've just royally pissed me off." Snapping her fingers again, she caused the man to rise by his belt buckle and threw him off the edge into a group of his buddies. Winry jumped onto the balcony rail, and looked to see how Alphonse was doing. All four men were lying unconscious on the balcony floor, and he had already opened the door to yell at Edward.

_No time to wait on him_, Winry thought to herself as she jumped to the ground, landing gracefully. About forty men had gathered in front of the inn to help dispose of the state alchemists. Many of them were alchemists themselves; only a third of them were regular thugs with nothing else better to do than join in on the fun. Winry stared at the group and grinned, "Who's ready to get beat first?" She clapped her hands together and transformed a blade onto her automail arm as some of the men debated. Seconds later, a few men stepped up from the group to confront the girl. They proceeded with caution, as they had seen what she did to their comrade on the balcony.

* * *

"_What_!" she heard Edward yell loudly from his upstairs room. _Al must have finally gotten him up. Thanks for the distraction, Ed!_ Without hesitation, Winry yelled loudly as she lunged forward to attack the distracted group of outlaws. She slashed her way through the men, but was surrounded within seconds. She quickly glanced towards the balcony as she saw Ed and Al both jump over the railing to help her in the fight. The men kept a tight circle around the girl, and she had to dodge not only normal weapons, but alchemist attacks as well. The alchemy being used wasn't very strong by itself, but when used with many other alchemists, it quickly became a force to reckon with. 

After being slashed on her right arm by a transmuted lance, a thug was able to sneak behind the girl and grab both of her arms. The circle closed even tighter, with men and alchemists ducking in and out to get a free hit on the girl. Edward and Alphonse saw this, and continued to fight their way to help their friend. Winry struggled to free herself, kicking anyone away who came within range. A man came into the circle, running with a large sword held over his head, preparing to cut her in half.

"Winry!" yelled Edward as he continued to fight. He wasn't going to get there within time!

Winry saw the man charging at her, and with a burst of strength, she was able to whirl around just in time to place the thug who held her between her and the sword. The charging man wasn't able to stop the sword's momentum, and the blade came down and cut through the thug's body easily. The edge of the blade managed to also cut Winry slightly on her right shoulder. Whirling around, and still using her transmuted arm, she quickly disposed of the large attacker.

Seeing their comrades fall, the surrounding attackers became angry and jumped on the girl. Ed saw them pile on top of Winry as he continued to fight to her area. _I promised her I would help if she got into trouble! I've got to get there,_ his thoughts echoed in his mind. Ed clapped his hands and slammed them to the ground, sending a wave of dirt away from his center and moving all of his attackers away from him. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could to the pile of men on his friend. _Hold on, Winry!_

As Edward came within twenty feet of the pile, he saw a strange light erupt from the middle. Not a second later a loud explosion sounded, and all the thugs and alchemists who were piled on top of her were thrown against various metal objects in the area. After the explosion, Edward could see Winry kneeling on both knees, with her hands on the ground propping her body up. He rushed to her side, and looked around to see there were no more threats in the area; what men she didn't dispose of, Al had taken care of.

"Winry, Winry!" Edward called as he grabbed her shoulders. She was keeping herself propped up, but her arms and shoulders were shaking badly. Blood trickled down her arm and side. He kneeled in front of her and took her shoulders in his hands, "Winry, dammit, answer me!"

The girl weakly lifted up her head, and slightly smiled at her friend, "What took you so long?" A coughing fit overcame the slender form, causing her arms to buckle and fail to support her weight. Edward reached out and caught his friend before she was able to hit the ground, "What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed for trying to take them on by yourself!"

Pulling one of her arms over his shoulder, Ed carefully helped his friend up as local police began to show up. "You're hurt too," he stated gently. Winry looked down to see the cuts on her side and arm, "Eh, they're not that bad," she quietly joked, "I think I'll live."

"Well, you better because you're not gonna let a bunch of punks like that beat you," he said, still providing some support. "Are you going to be okay? You're not going to pass out on me are you?"

Winry took her left arm and lightly hit her friend in the stomach, "Of course not, I just need to get some decent sleep. I was only able to get an hour or two."

Edward helped his friend over to an outside chair and made her sit down. He received some bandages from one of the local policemen, and turned back to bandage her wounds, only to find her dragging some unconscious thugs to the second police van that had just pulled up.

"What are you doing? Get over here so I can close those cuts," Edward stated, pointing to the spot she was in a few moments ago.

"Ed, I can take a few cuts and bruises. I'll let you do that if you insist _after_ I get these bastards where they need to be. Then you can bandage away if it makes you feel better," Winry huffed as she helped to lift the men into the van. Edward snorted his disapproval, but pocketed the bandages and walked over to help. He kept a close eye on the girl in case she hurt herself more than she let on; she had a habit of doing that.

Winry walked up to the edge of the area to find one of her original attackers holding himself upright against a table with one of his legs dangling at his side. He tried to hobble away the moment he saw her heading his way, but fell as he lost his balance. She managed to harness her anger, though images kept flashing through her head of what he tried to do to her earlier. The man scooted on the ground away from the girl, holding his swollen and bleeding kneecap with one hand.

"You're lucky you didn't die, bitch," he spat out to the girl.

She cocked her head at his remark and smiled sweetly back at him, "You're lucky I decided to throw you to your buddies instead of onto the plentiful amount of sharp objects." The man's face paled as he realized she spoke the truth. Ed spotted her as she began to pat the man down, making sure he didn't have any more weapons on him.

"Is this another one?" he asked, frowning at the man. Winry nodded and began to help the man up by balancing one of his arms around her shoulders. She looked up to see the rest of the vans had already departed, but Edward helped her and the man over to one of the last police vehicles at the scene. They placed the man in the backseat and buckled him in. Winry rolled down the window before closing the door so she could ask the thug some questions.

"Who sent you?" Winry asked as she wiped some of the blood oozing from her neck wound. The thug laughed at the girl's question, "You really think I'm going to tell you?" The girl smiled at the thug's cockiness, and slowly transformed her automail arm into a sword, twisting it around in the air to let the streetlights glint and highlight its sharpness.

"Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way…I'll let you be a grown man and decide."

"Those cops won't let you do something like that to m-" Winry thrust the blade through the open window to come within a half-inch of the man's throat. She looked around quickly to see the police questioning Edward. Alphonse was walking up to the car to retrieve Winry, so she could let the investigators know her side of the story. "You see, I've already got clearance to get whatever information I want…Any way I want, got it?" The man continued to refuse, so Winry took the blade and rubbed it up and down the man's throat, "You're getting a little bushy there, man…Do you want me to shave it for you?"

"Ok! Okay, I'll talk. Just don't point that thing at me anymore…" Winry nodded and removed her blade from the man's neck, though she kept her arm transformed. "No one sent us. The alchemists banded together to try and stop you, and just got a bunch of us thugs to help out! Now I don't know if the alchemists are underneath anyone, I just know what I do."

Winry arched an eyebrow at the man, "Are you suuuuurrreeee?" She raised the blade in the air again and looked at it in the lamplight.

"Yes, I'm sure. That's all I know. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask one of those alchemists,"

"Where are the rest of them? And how many are left?"

"Dunno, they all have various places to meet, so they could be anywhere in this town," the thug sighed to himself for he had been beaten by a girl. "I have heard the alchemists are looking up to a foreigner right now; rumor says he's pretty powerful."

Winry nodded at this information, "Thanks, oh yeah, and you might want to get that knee looked at too. I don't know my own strength sometimes." She patted the roof of the car and looked to Al, who had been standing there during the conversation. "Are they ready to talk with me now?" she asked as the two began to walk off.

"Yeah, but uh, Winry? We weren't given any permission to do what you said to that man," Alphonse asked, confused at her actions a moment ago. Laughing, Winry nodded her head, "I know Al, I know. But _he_ didn't have to know that," she said pointing back to the car as it was driven off to the police station. She rubbed her neck where it was cut to wipe more blood away, "I would have beat him up more, but I wanted him to be able to talk when I needed him to."

* * *

For the next few minutes, Winry stood and relayed her story back to the investigators. They took notes as she described everything that had happened, from the moment the two men jumped from her rooftop to the ending explosion. Surprisingly, there was little to no damage to the surroundings. The police thanked her for the information and went to their cars to leave. Winry walked over to where Ed and Al were standing waiting for her, and the trio walked back upstairs to their rooms. Edward walked into Winry's room and made her sit down, so he could bandage her wounds finally. She huffed her frustration, but complied with his orders, figuring it would be better to go along with it instead of arguing. 

Edward easily bandaged the girl's neck and arm, and only found minor scratches in other places. He was just putting the bandages up when he noticed the dark, red stain on the side of her shirt. "What's that?"

Winry looked down and realized it was where the first thug's knife got her before she flung him over the rail, "Oh it's just a scratch, don't worry about it."

Edward cocked his eyebrow at her elusiveness and walked back over with the bandages in hand, "Pull up your shirt, let me see it." Both teens faces turned red when they each realized what he said, and he quickly tried to say it differently, "I meant, just pull up the front..no that's not what I meant, just lift the side or something, ah! You know what I mean!" After a second of silence, the two began to laugh at the situation, though they still were red from blushing.

Slowly, Winry lifted the side of her shirt so he could get access to her wound. It wasn't very deep, but could get infected easily. He put some ointment on it, causing the girl to flinch and curse lightly under her breath, but attached a bandage, then turned away while she wrapped the tape around her torso to hold the guaze in place. "Thanks a lot Edward," she said as she handed him the supplies. As she turned she saw he, too, had a dark red stain on his back from an injury. "And what's that from?" He tried to look over, but wasn't quite able to tell from its position on his back, "Eh, don't worry about it, it isn't that bad--"

"Don't give me that bullshit, go sit down over there right now so I can fix it!" Winry demanded, and waited until he sat down on her bed. Huffing she sat on the bed behind him, "I can't believe you would go through all that moaning to patch me up, when you're sitting here hurt yourself!" He took his shirt off and studied the blood stain and tear mark as she began to clean it out, "I guess I did get cut. I don't think I ever felt it though," he sat straight to give her better access.

Winry laughed as she continued to clean the cut, "I bet you wouldn't know if your automail was busted either."

Edward lifted up his right hand and wiggled his fingers. Then he stretched it out to the front and side to test the joints, "Nope, it's fine," he replied finally.

"Well, it better be because I wouldn't fix it tonight anyway," he smiled at her attitude. He knew she was joking and was just irritated that he worried about her so much, but he couldn't help it. He would rather her not get hurt at all. She finished a short moment later, and he felt her reach over for something on her nightstand. Sure enough, the next second he felt the familiar screwdriver poking around his upper arm on his automail. He turned his head slightly to grin at her, "I thought you wouldn't fix it tonight if it was broken _anyway_?"

"Shut up, you never know when it's broken unless it's in a million pieces," Winry reached over to her nightstand again and pulled out a small thing of oil, "You gotta take care of this stuff while I'm gone, you now that." She spent a few more minutes of poking around before sitting back and yawning, "It looks good so far, I'll have to take a more thorough look at it tomorrow after I've slept." Edward turned around and leaned his back against the wall.

"Why didn't you get any sleep earlier, anyway?" he asked quietly. She stopped putting her tools away for a split-second before resuming, keeping quiet the entire time. Edward put his shirt back on as she finished arranging her items, "I mean, we didn't get back from dinner late or anything, so what gives?"

Winry stood and turned to look at the window as she folded her arms across her chest, facing away from Edward, "I just wasn't tired, okay?" He could tell from her evasion what had happened.

"You had another dream, didn't you," he stated plainly. The way her head dropped slightly confirmed his suspicion. The room stood quiet for a minute with each teen in their thoughts.

"Hey, Winry, come here," said Edward, after finally deciding to break the silence. Winry turned around and lifted her eyebrow in confusion as she still saw him sitting on her bed, leaning against the wall. "Why?" she replied.

"Just come here," he said again, blushing slightly. The girl slowly walked over to the bed and sat down on the opposite side. He motioned with his arms for her to come closer, "Just come here and lay down." A bright blush covered the girl's cheeks, but she complied and crawled over to where he leaned. When she got close enough, he pulled her next to him so she could lie down. Her head lay against his chest, and she draped an arm over his stomach.

"Um, Ed, why exactly am I doing this?" Winry asked, still blushing madly. His blushing slowly went down as he explained his reasoning, "Well, my mom used to do this when Al and I were little if we had nightmares. I know they are nothing like the ones we have now, but I thought this might help. So try and get some sleep. I'll stay awake in case those bastards try and show up again." He wrapped his left arm around her as best he could, and let her snuggle closer to him. At first, the whole thing seemed awkward, and he thought that maybe he shouldn't do it, but after getting her next to him Edward felt comfortable fairly quick. He no longer blushed as she sleepily snuggled closer to him.

"Ed, wake me up if I start to have another one please," Winry asked as she finally began to nod off ten minutes or so later.

"Don't worry, you won't while I'm here," he whispered as he too began to nod off not long after the girl.


	11. Chapter 11

Yay for more reviews! You have just made this birthday girl happy! Anyway, I promised to post 11 today (which I am of course), but I'm debating on submitting 12 either tonight or tomorrow. I guess that will be up to you guys! (forms evil grin)

I hate being mean sometimes!

Enjoy!

P.S. Anyone who has read the manga should recognize parts of this chapter. This is one of those instances where I decided to go with the manga instead of the series, so please don't yell at me for changing major parts of the story, because I didn't!

* * *

Chapter Eleven 

A few days had passed since the nighttime brawl, and the trio was still unsuccessful in any information regarding the hiding place for the outlaw alchemists. Both Edward and Winry's wounds had closed, though she did get irritated every time he insisted to look at them to ensure they were healing.

"Damn it!" Winry exclaimed as the three sat on the brothers' balcony after lunch one afternoon, "We've been looking forever, and STILL haven't found anything useful."

"I'm sure there's _somewhere_ we're not looking yet, Winry," Alphonse stated rationally. Edward nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, this town isn't that big, so maybe we're just looking in the wrong places."

"But we haven't come across a single alchemist _or_ thug since that night they attacked us!" she huffed as she stood up and leaned on the railing, looking out over the town. Al looked in her direction, "But you heard what the one guy said before he was hauled off. He said he heard they have many places to gather. We could be looking right at one, and just not know it."

"Yeah, but if only we knew who this 'powerful' guy was," Edward thought out loud, "then maybe, if we can take him out, the rest of the organization will be too weak and collapse."

Winry sighed in frustration as she continued to watch the town. "Wait…hold on a minute," she said suspiciously.

Both brothers looked confused as they saw her leaning over the balcony to look underneath, and around the streets. "What is it?" inquired Al.

"The people…No one is out here," said Winry absentmindedly as she continued to look around.

"And what's the matter with that? It just means it's quieter now…" griped Edward.

"It's lunchtime, that's why…there should be a lot of people out and about…" Winry said as she turned around with her hands on her hips.

"Brother! Winry! Look…" Al said, pointing out into the streets.

The two teens turned their gaze to see four men exit from an alleyway and walk up the street toward their balcony. They came within a block or two, and one turned his gaze up to the balcony sneering, "So this is where you've have been hiding…"  
Edward stood up and glared at the group, "Who the hell are you and what do you want? Are you a part of that weak-ass alchemist group we pounded the other night?"

His boldness caused the man to chuckle to himself, "Yeah, we're alchemists. What few of us are left decided to get help, and fortunately we have a powerful ally we'd like you to meet. He's interested in meeting you, REALLY interested, and it seems like he has already heard of you."

Ed smirked, "Yeah, well I bet he'll go down just as fast as your buddies did."

One of the other outlaws grinned, "We'll see about that, kid." Looking to an alley, he called to someone, "Hey buddy! Come on out and teach these brats a lesson!" The group walked off to the side of the road, waiting for the forthcoming fight, as a dark-skinned man with a large scar on his forehead slowly walked out from behind the alley and looked straight at the trio. Winry could see the expression on Edward's face change, though she could tell he was trying hard not to show his emotions. She also kept seeing him glance back in her direction as fear flashed through his eyes.

"Well, it seems that the rumors were true. Two state alchemists are here from Central. It makes my job easier when they follow me." Keeping his sunglasses on, he glanced from Edward to Alphonse, "Well, you finally succeeded and became qualified, even though you have no physical body? Impressive…" Winry began to step forward to correct the man, but was pulled back by Edward.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

Interrupting the girl's cry, Al went along with the man's assumption. "Yes, I was finally able to receive my state certification, and even though I know your intentions, I do not have any regrets."

* * *

Edward pulled Winry to kneel a few feet behind his brother, as Alphonse continued to stall Scar, and shook his head at his friend, "I want you to stay out of this one," he whispered to her. "Trust me, you don't want to be involved with this." 

"What's with this guy? Why does he think Al is the alchemist and not me?" Winry asked Ed, and then glared at him, "And what's the point of having my abilities if I can't use them to help you two?"

"We've fought him before; you haven't. We know how he fights, and what he can do…you don't. I want you to promise you'll stay out of this one." Seeing her lower her eyes, Ed grabbed the girl's shoulders and whispered loudly, "Promise me!"

Pulling her shoulders away from him in protest, and crossing her arms across her chest, she looked away from him, "Hmph. Only until you two are getting your butts whipped, then I may decide to intervene, so he better watch out."

Frowning at her sarcastic comment, Edward pulled her forward into a hug. Surprised at his sudden motion, Winry blushed and let him hold her in his arms. "This is the guy Mustang warned us about; the alchemist killer, who everyone calls 'Scar'. I forgot to tell you about him when we were on the train. No matter what happens to Al or me, please be careful. Don't let him get near you…" he whispered into her ear before letting her go and standing up. He walked over to the balcony edge and turned around to face her, "But we aren't going to let it last that long," Ed said as he and Al jumped over the railing to land on the ground.

* * *

Winry stood up and rushed to the edge of the balcony, to see the brothers walk towards their opponent. The town remained still as the two stopped thirty feet or so from the intimidating man. Time seemed to stand still as the pair faced the lone warrior. Suddenly Scar lunged toward the pair and slammed his arm to the ground, creating a great explosion that separated Edward and Alphonse. Before either one of them had time to react, Scar appeared in front of Ed, his hand raised to attack once again. Edward desperately tried to dodge the blow, but didn't need to as Al appeared and slammed his body into the alchemist killer. 

Scar caught himself from falling and slid away fifteen feet from the brothers. He stood to face the two, and fixed his sunglasses on his face, "Don't think I don't know how to destroy you even though you have no physical body."

Edward sneered at the threat towards his brother, "And don't think we don't know who and what you are, and that what you're doing goes against everything your God stands upon!"

The boys could see the anger rise within Scar's face. "You, who do not even believe in God, dare mock me? It was alchemists like you who obliterated my people, and for that I shall use the very same power used against them to destroy you!" he yelled as he lunged forward. Edward quickly clapped his hands and created a barrier between him and Scar, giving his brother and he a precious second to move from his path. Scar easily exploded the barrier in a pile of dust and smoke to be welcomed by a gigantic cannon Edward had transformed from a few nearby carts. Edward fired the cannon, and for a split second believed to have hit the attacker, but was brought back to reality when Scar appeared in front of him and swung his right arm to grab the teen. Ed jumped from the cannon, but wasn't fast enough as Scar grabbed him by the edge of his coat. He quickly broke free from the material and landed, then ran to take cover as he saw Al using a transmutation circle to send a wave of dirt in the direction of their foe.

Quickly transforming his automail arm into a large blade, Ed regained his breath for a few precious moments as he waited for Scar to reappear. Dust clouded the area, making it difficult to see anything. The boys held their position and waited for any sign of their attacker to appear. As the dust settled, Edward was able to make out a shadow of a man standing across the street where his former cannon now lay in ruins. The slight breeze blew the settling dust away, and the boys could see the Ishballian man take his broken sunglasses off his face and toss them to the ground. He stood still and stared at the two teens.

"I thought being a state alchemist allowed you to transmute without having to make a circle," Scar stated, causing Edward to begin to have a bad feeling. He glanced quickly to the balcony to see Winry was still watching the scene. From their distance, he didn't think she would be able to hear everything that was being said.

Scar saw the small glance, and began to smile. "So why would a state alchemist continue to draw transmutation circles?" Alphonse tried his best to come up with a believable excuse to fool their attacker, "I prefer to since I've just gotten my certification! I'm still not used to using alchemy without it yet!"

"I don't see a watch on you, so where would you put it? I know the armor is empty, and I don't hear it making any noise in there, so why would you lie to me?"

"I haven't! I swear! I just got my certification recently…" Al spoke quickly, his mind in overdrive trying to figure out how to explain everything.

Silence surrounded the area momentarily as the three continued to hold their positions.

"Is it because you are trying to protect HER?" Scar yelled as he slammed his hand to the ground and sent an explosion ripping through the soil towards the inn.

"NO! WINRY WATCH OUT!" Edward screamed as he lunged forward in an attempt to stop the attack. He quickly slashed through the air, hoping to connect with the dark-skinned man, but was disappointed when he realized he jumped away from the attack. He landed and immediately ran towards what was left of the inn.

* * *

Winry saw the exchange between the men, but couldn't hear what was being said. She also saw Ed glance her way and felt her stomach twist in a sickingly way. A few more comments were made before the scarred man screamed and sent an attack her way. The ground exploded in a line towards the inn; towards her. She screeched in surprise, but instinctively jumped on the railing and launched herself off of it towards the ground. She landed hard on an outside table, and felt one of her ribs snap as the table collapsed. Not a second later she heard a loud explosion, and looked up to see the front of the inn had been torn off by the attack. 

Rolling off the remains of the table, Winry grabbed her side and stood up to see Edward running towards her. Not far behind, she saw their attacker gaining distance on Ed, while Al frantically drew a transmutation circle on the ground.

"ED, MOVE!" Winry screamed as she clapped her hands and slammed them to the ground, sending her own attack Scar's way. Edward dodged just in time as the ground exploded past him. Scar attempted to dodge the attack as well, but was surprised that when he jumped to the side, the attack veered his way as well. Edward continued towards Winry as he heard the explosion sound behind him, reaching her within a few seconds. She appeared to be okay, though she kept holding her side he noted. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and glanced back to see Al stalling the man from Ishbal for a few moments with an alchemist attack of his own.

"Go find a place to hide and stay there! He figured out Al was lying, and he knows you're an alchemist, so he's going to be coming after you too…" Winry could hear the panic and fear in Edward's voice, and for a split second believed they may not have a chance against this scarred man.

"I'm not going to leave you two to fight him," Winry said as she brushed herself off and prepared to fight the imminent threat.

They both turned as Al shouted, in time to see Scar running in their direction. Edward got into position to fight, and blocked Winry from Scar's path.

"GO!" he screamed. The urgency in his voice scared her slightly, as Winry began to run as fast as she could for the alleys; she had learned the past few days that they connected in various places and could provide a decent getaway from an attacker. She glanced over her shoulder to see Edward attempting to attack the Ishballian, but Scar avoided his attack easily and continued in her direction. She pushed her legs to move faster, but he seemed to gain on her. She quickly transmuted anything she passed that could block his path to her, but nothing could slow him down.

Just as Winry was almost to the alleys, she felt her body jerk backwards and a pain shoot through her head, as he had grabbed a handful of her hair. She fell to the ground, and quickly swung her legs around and tried to trip him, but to no avail. She could hear Edward and Alphonse yelling from behind them, but knew they were going to be too late to help her. He picked her up by the hair, and dangled her in front of his face, "So you're the one that's the new alchemist. Pity for you to be here." He grabbed a near wall and caused it to explode, closing off the mouth of the alley they were in, and cutting them off from the only people that could help her. She tried to pry his hand away from her hair, but he was much stronger than her. Pain tore through her scalp, causing tears to stream down her face, and she believed it would rip from her skull if she weren't released soon.

On the other side of the tall pile of debris she could hear Edward yelling for her as Al tried to move some of the boulders and chunks of wall. "Don't worry young one, it will be over soon," the voice caused her to look down and see his red eyes glaring at her. Even through the pain in her body, she wasn't willing to give up easily.

Winry snapped her gloved fingers and instantly turned her automail arm into a large blade just as a loud explosion sounded and the debris crumbled into dust behind them. Scar turned his head slightly at the noise, and Winry took her chance to slice at him. She swung her arm up and sliced at his shoulder, and in the process cut his sleeve off, revealing the heavily tattooed arm underneath. The attack surprised the man and he released her hair from his grip. She fell to the ground, and began to run farther into the alley, creating as many obstacles as possible to block anyone from following her. She took many paths to lose any followers and found a dumpster to hide behind once she felt she was safe.

Winry hid for a minute or two before realizing Scar had not followed her. Worry began to sink in as she remembered Ed and Al coming through the wall and attacking him. She remembered seeing his arm, and the many tattoos covering it. Then the image of those piercing red eyes came to the forefront of her memory. They sparked another memory to surface:

"_Do you know what happened to my parents, Colonel?" she asked him, in hopes of finding any information to help comfort her. The Colonel stared at the young girl from his desk, then stood up to face the window. _

"_Your parents died in the war, Winry, you know that," he replied quietly after a few moments of silence. He could hear her sit quietly on one of his couches and speak in a whisper, "I know, I just wished I knew how they died. I was just looking for any information that could tell me anything about them."_

_He turned around to see the girl with her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands. "I just thought that since you were over there, then you might know something about them, and how they…went…"_

_He crossed the room to kneel in front of the girl. Taking her hands away from her face, he gently wiped the tears away from her eyes. "They were good people. They gave medical attention to whomever needed it, whether they be friend or foe." He saw her smile slightly and nod, agreeing with his statement. _

"_They were the victims of a renegade Ishballan male, as were many alchemists. Since they healed alchemists, his perception was that they should be destroyed like many of my fellow comrades. What's ironic is that, at one time, your parents had helped him from the brink of death. Rumor had it that he had a very large scar on his forehead and a detailed tattoo on his right arm, which was also where his power of alchemy came from." Mustang looked from the girl to the floor, "He would blow the victim up from the inside out." He heard a gasp come from the girl, and looked up to see her head tilted down with her bangs covering her eyes, and her hands clenched into fists. "Rumor also had it that he was destroyed towards the end of the war, though, by our army," he said sternly as he stood from his position and took his place back at his desk._

"_I know it's painful, but you have to move on."_

_Winry stood from her spot and bowed in respect, though still not lifting her head to the Colonel. "Thank you very much for the information, Colonel." She bowed again before exiting his office._

Anger flowed through the Winry's veins as she realized just _who_ their attacker was. She stood from her crouched position and began to walk towards an area where the paths crossed, and made her way back to the fighting area. The closer she got to the fighting, the louder it got. Finally she came up to an opening to the street the brothers were fighting Scar in, and she carefully hid while watching the Ishballan's actions. He seemed barely tired, whereas Edward and Alphonse looked bruised and beaten. Ed was sporting many bruises and cuts that bled, and she could see many dents and small cracks in Al's armor body.

Scar stood in the middle of the boys, and each was holding their action until he did something. She could see each talking, but couldn't hear what was being said. "I hate being this far away from everyone," she mumbled to herself.

"Well, this means it'll be farther for them to run and save you," came a scratchy voice from behind her. Winry whirled around to see the four alchemists from earlier had formed a semi-circle around her. She put her hands on her hips in frustration and sighed, "You know, I really don't have time for you guys, so if you would be so kind as to hold your attacks until later, I'd really appreciate it…"

Two of the men laughed at her cockiness and pulled daggers out to transform them into other weapons, "You won't be so lucky this time, missy…"  
Rolling her eyes at their comment, "Okaaaaaaayyyyy…Don't say I didn't warn you…"


	12. Chapter 12

Bad author, bad author! (slaps own hand)

Sorry readers for not posting yesterday as I had originally planned. I was so swamped with my homework, but the time I got done it was way to late to get on here and post! Here's a nice and long chapter for you to read, and I'll post more on Thursday!

I do want to make a quick comment on the last review by Vegan Star. Some of you may not like the idea of reverting to the manga for this plot twist, but I figured it would be better for the story overall. I mean, hell, why would Winry even join the military and be under MUSTANG'S leadership if he killed her parents? I personally wouldn't want to be anywhere near the man if he had done that to me...The scene in the manga where Winry finds out about her parents, and the interaction between her and Edward...sigh...it's really sad and heart-breaking.

Okay enough emotion...Onto the violence!

Erin

* * *

Chapter Twelve 

They finally had him cornered. They had fought nonstop since Scar caused the debris to block them and Winry, and Alphonse thought Edward was going to go crazy trying to get through it to get to her. They didn't know where she went, just as long as she was okay. Both brothers kept their position on either side of the scarred man, waiting for him to make a move. _Brother seems tired, I'll try to stall to let him catch his breath, _Al thought to himself as he glanced at his brother and saw his condition.

"Scar!" Al yelled to the man, "Why do you hate alchemists who go against your God, when you yourself use alchemy!"

He could see Scar turn his head slightly to look in his direction, though keeping an eye on his older brother, "I thought I said this in East City. If you are the ones who create, there must be ones who destroy…"

"East…" Al muttered to himself, "Destroy…" Images of Nina and Alexander before and after they had been turned into a chimera popped into his head. "…What can be created from actions that can only destroy…Isn't it that you only want to use your God's name to justify your killings?"

"…Al?" Edward questioned, surprised at his statements.

"And Shou Tucker," Al continued, "Did you kill his daughter Nina as an avatar of God too?"

Scar turned his face away from the suit of armor and glanced at the ground. "Tucker…I see…You also saw his daughter who was made into a chimera." A moment passed before anything was said, "What does it create, huh? An alchemist I defeated some days ago also told me that 'there is no way you can match we who create'…The art of creating you say?" He turned his head back towards Al, "Wasn't it arrogance like that which created that chimera girl?"

"An art which creates that kind of tragedy…Is that the alchemy which you so admire!" Glancing at Edward, "That hand of yours is what put your brother in that body."

Edward glared as he yelled at his opponent, "Even so…Why did you need to kill her? What gave you the right to take away her life?"

"Didn't you understand? She couldn't return to normal anymore…" Scar said after another moment of silence, "If you left her like that, she would have been used just like an experimental animal, and would never have been treated like a human again."

Al lowered his head, "…That's right. Back then; deep down in our hearts we had the feeling that Nina might be sent to some laboratory. We only postponed a problem we could do nothing about…"

Silence surrounded the three for a few minutes, as no one talked or made any sound. "Certainly, we alchemists have been making mistakes," spoke Edward finally, "But that doesn't mean we're going to acknowledge what you're doing!"

* * *

An explosion sounded from down the road, and the three fighters watched in curiosity as the four alchemists from earlier were flung to pipes that lined some of the remaining buildings. _Winry! _he thought to himself as he recognized the attack. Not a moment later, she walked out from an alley and brushed her gloved hands together to get some dirt off. Edward watched as she looked over to the group, then narrowed her eyes at Scar and began to walk towards them. He noticed she still held her side, though it looked like it didn't bother her too much from the anger he saw in her eyes. 

"Stupid girl! What are you doing? Didn't I tell you to hide?" Edward yelled to her, though not moving from his position in case Scar attacked. She ignored him as she continued to walk towards them. She boldly came within thirty feet of the Ishballan, and glared at him. He sneered at her show of courage. "Are you giving up?"

Narrowing her eyes even further, the words flowed off her tongue like poison, "You should have been dead already…You should have died in the war…" She paused for a moment, summoning the courage to continue, "Scar, there's something I want to ask you…Does an avatar of God coolly take the lives of doctors who devote themselves to the people?"

She saw Edward's surprised look from the corner of her eye, but didn't acknowledge it, "Do you remember a married couple of doctors from Rizenbul named Rockbell?"

"Winry…" she heard Alphonse say quietly, and could feel the prickling of tears threatening to form behind her eyes, but she resisted everything except finding out the truth.

"They went forward in the Ishbal rebellion, and even after there was an order of annihilation, they continued helping the people of Ishbal…" Tears formed behind her eyes against her will, her emotions making her voice quiver slightly, "SCAR! Do you remember those doctors who you were helped by and who you killed!"

Edward's eyes widened at the accusation she threw at their opponent. He knew her parent's death had always been a sore point, but how was she able to figure out that _Scar_ did it? How would she have known?

Winry glared at the scarred man, her tears finally breaking the barrier she had set up and slowly spilling down her cheeks. His silence confirmed her guess, as her legs gave out from underneath her, causing her to hit the ground hard. She held a hand up to prevent Edward from coming near her, as she saw he was about to do, and looked in Scar's direction.

"You don't deny it? Just because they helped alchemists was a good reason for them to die, even though they helped YOUR people?" Anger began to flow stronger through her as she imagined him killing them, blowing them up from the inside. Her stomach turned from the thought, and she clutched it in hopes of preventing herself from being sick. Because it was becoming difficult to breathe Winry feared one of her lungs might be bruised or punctured from when she landed on the table earlier.

"So you're those doctor's daughter…" Scar said as the girl still tried to calm herself, "You have the right to kill me…" She looked up at the Ishballan man. He narrowed his eyes and raised his arm, "But this arm commands me to kill you, and I follow its orders!" He began to run towards Winry before the brothers had a chance to react.

"Winry! Dammit, she's gonna get herself killed!" Edward yelled as he began to run towards her, but stopped when Alphonse yelled at him, shaking his head and pointing in her direction. He had noticed she had quickly clapped her arms and grabbed her left arm, much like she did in the exam. Winry waited until Scar was within a few feet of her before letting her lighting rain from the sky. Numerous bolts of lightning erupted from the few clouds in the sky, all aimed at the scarred man. He dodged all but the last bolt, which knocked him across the street into a building. The ground shook and crumbled in many places where the bolt tore through it, sending chunks of earth flying everywhere.

Scar scrambled from the wreckage and looked around for any of the teens, when Winry came from nowhere and punched him in the face with her automail arm. He tried to step back, but was caught in the stomach with a kick from her right leg. Scar landed on his feet this time and charged towards the girl. She ducked his attack, but was too slow as he caused chunks of earth to turn into spikes, in hopes of impaling her. She jumped back as each one formed next to her, and glanced to see Ed and Al were still busy trying to get through the wreckage she had caused with her lightning bolts.

She quickly jumped on one of Scar's spikes, and used it to leap towards him, clapping her hands before she landed on the ground. She transmuted her arm into a blade, and went in to attack the Ishballan. Winry began to wear out as she fought the strong man, her strength weakening from not only her wounds, but from her lightning attack earlier.

As the two faced off, Winry glanced around quickly hoping to find any items she could use to her advantage. Scar saw this opportunity and slammed his hand to the ground, causing the ground to explode in her direction. This time she wasn't able to dodge it totally and was flung against a wall. She could vaguely hear Edward yelling as her head pounded against the concrete, causing her vision to fade in and out. Scar walked up to the girl and looked down to her, "You should have given up, it would have been easier for all of us." Winry heard the voice, but couldn't see her attacker from the blow to the head she had just received. She swung her arm blade around weakly, hoping to connect with his skin.

"Pathetic. I will take care of you, but first…" Scar grabbed one of the pipes that was connected to the building and transmuted it into long chains. He set it on the ground and slammed his hand next to it, hurtling it toward the brothers. They had just cleared over most of her debris and were rushing to their friend's aid. The chain came from nowhere and wrapped itself around the teens, preventing them from coming any closer, and keeping their hands apart so they can't transmute.

"Bastard, don't you lay another hand on her! I'll kill you!" Edward yelled as he tried to escape the chains. They not only kept his hands apart, but were wrapped tightly around each hand, preventing him from doing anything else.

"The cycle of hatred cannot stop until either side falls!" yelled Scar, as he turned back to face the girl. She rubbed her eyes, trying to make them work, and weakly waved her blade around as she heard him approach again. "Leave me alone! Don't come any closer!"

"Leave her alone!" she heard Edward scream, as he and Al fought against their bonds. "Winry, don't let him near you! Get up!" She attempted to get to her feet, but was quickly pushed back down by the scarred man. She whimpered as she fell back to the rubble. She felt blood sliding down her face, and didn't know how bad she was injured.

Winry's vision began to slowly come back, and she was able to make out light and dark objects in front of her. She saw a big dark area, and assumed it was Scar because it moved. With her dwindling energy, she threw a desperate punch with her left arm to the darkness. She felt him grab her fist and squeeze.

"I remember doing this to your friend over there. At least you won't be playing tricks on me anymore…"

Winry's body and mind screamed in pain as he destroyed her automail arm. The pain she felt was worse than what she had gone through getting the surgery done. She clutched the place where her left arm was with her right hand while her body shivered in pain and shock. Her screams burned their way into Edward's memory, causing him to cringe at the hurt she was going through. He became reckless in his attempt to free himself, pushing himself against the chains and screaming her name though she did not appear to hear him at all through her own sobs.

"Winry! Winry!" Edward continued to yell, as he and Al continued to try and break free. Scar waited until he decided the girl was not going to die from shock, lifted her up into a sitting position, and placed his palm on her forehead. She didn't seem to resist against his hand, "I will give you a moment to pray to your God," he said to the girl.

"I don't have a God to pray to, though if I did I'd wish for you to have a painful death like my parents did, you bastard…" Winry said between gasps of breath, keeping her eyes closed.

"Anything else?" Scar said after a moment of silence.

Winry tried to think through the pain she was going through. She could hear the boys yelling still, and Edward seemed frantic to free himself from whatever Scar did to him. "I do have one thing…"

"What is it?" he said after she was quiet.

"I'm not ready to die yet…" she whispered, as tears flowed down her face.

Scar lowered his head, and pushed harder with his palm, "You really don't have a choice in the matter…"

"Yes she does!" came a voice from the side, as a large fist slammed into the Ishballan, causing him to fly across the street again into another building. Winry's head lifted as she recognized the voice, but the toll of her injuries were too much as the girl's body finally gave out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Edward, in his frantic state, had managed to wiggle his hand free, and was able to reach a nearby nail. He quickly etched a circle into the chain, and broke it, releasing his brother and himself. "Al, check on Winry! I'm going to help Major Armstrong!" The younger brother nodded and rushed over to where his friend lay unmoving. 

Alphonse lifted the girl up into a sitting position, and tried to rouse her. "Winry, Winry, please wake up…" he kept repeating while he rubbed her arm. She didn't respond at first, but he eventually saw her stir slightly. The moment she did caused her to freak out and try to get away from whoever was near her. Her eyesight wasn't back to normal yet, and she thought Scar might still be in front of her. She frantically tried to stand up and back away, but her limbs did not want to work properly.

"Winry, it's just me, Al!" he exclaimed, trying to calm her down. Hearing her friend's voice did calm her down somewhat, though her body still shook with pain. She looked up in Al's general direction, "Where's Edward? Is he okay too?"

Alphonse nodded accidentally, forgetting she couldn't see very well at the moment, "Yeah, he's helping Major Armstrong fight Scar right now…"

* * *

Major Armstrong sent many strong attacks in the Ishballan's direction to steer him away from the teenagers. He thought it had worked, until Edward appeared by his side, ready for another go at the murderer. "Edward! Get back! You're already wounded, and will be of no use here…" 

"Screw that! He hurt her, and for that I'm going to rip him limb from limb," Edward growled, as he faced the attacker. Major Armstrong had already taken his shirt off and had tried intimidating the scarred man with his muscles, but Ed had not noticed any of it.

"Please, stay to the sid-"

"Fat chance!" Ed said transmuting his arm into a blade, as he charged towards Scar, "You're goin down!" Leaping towards his target, Edward attempted to slice the Ishballan, only to be kicked aside. He immediately slammed his hands to the ground as he landed, causing many spikes to spring from the ground toward Scar. Edward ran up one of the spikes as Scar dodged them, and flipped over the man to land behind him. A second wind of energy filled him as he swung his blade hard, and successfully sliced the back of the alchemist killer.

Scar yelled out in pain and stumbled forward and used one of the spikes for balance. He quickly broke it off and hurled it towards the teen. Edward dodged it and came in for another attack. As Edward closed the gap, Scar moved his hand to nearby spike. Ed could hear the Major yelling for him, but paid no attention to his warning.

As Edward came close enough for another attack, Scar broke off the end of the spike he held and shoved it into the teen's side. Then Scar quickly pushed him against another building, placed his hand on the wall, and caused an explosion, causing parts of the wall to fall towards Edward. With the spike still protruding from his side, Edward tried to get away, but realized he couldn't. The rocks began to fall on him, just as Major Armstrong heard the teenager clap his hands together.

"Edward!" yelled Major Armstrong, as he rushed to the rocks to free his comrade. He heard Alphonse running up from behind him, with a conscious Winry in his arms. "Brother!" he yelled, as he set the girl down gently and began to pull rocks off the pile. Armstrong saw Scar running from the scene, and informed Al that he was going to try and catch him, so to keep taking rocks off of Edward. Al nodded his head and continued to pry boulders off the mound of cement and rocks that filled the area.

* * *

Winry's vision was becoming clearer, and she was able to see the entire encounter as Alphonse tore pieces of a nearby banner into tourniquets for her cuts. She cried out as Edward was stabbed, alerting Al, and ordered him to take her over there. He obeyed, and they got there just as the rocks fell on Edward. Al frantically threw rocks off of the pile, in hopes of getting to his brother. After Al set her down, Winry stood as fast as her body let her, and hurried over to the pile. With her one arm and weak state, she moved as many rocks as possible. When she thought her body would give out from exhaustion, she pushed harder. She didn't want Edward to die. 

Winry frantically tried to pry rocks off of Edward, ignoring Al's pleas for her not to for fear of her passing out again. The pile of rocks shrank quickly after Major Armstrong came back with no luck of capturing Scar. Winry crawled up the pile, towards where she thought Edward was when it fell. Her hand and nails were bleeding from clawing at the rocks she wasn't able to move. Tears flowed down her face, as she continued to move smaller rocks with her one hand.

Just as Winry was about to pass out from exhaustion, she moved one more rock slightly and found Edward's hand. Grabbing it with her remaining one, she yelled to the Major and Alphonse that she had found him. They began to climb up the pile in her direction, being careful not to cause the rocks to crush him further.

Winry peered into the hole Edward's hand stuck out of to see he had formed some sort of earth mound over him before the rocks were able to hit him. There wasn't much room because he had to work quickly, but it was enough for him to breath.

"Are you okay?" Winry asked weakly. Her body and head hurt, and she didn't know how much longer she could hold out. She saw him nod slightly, but then he coughed and blood came up. "Hold on, Edward, we're getting you out of there."

"He hurt you…" she heard his voice whisper from the cramped space. Winry gripped his hand tighter in reassurance and felt him squeeze back.

"It's just a few scratches…Don't worry, though. We're going to get you out of there, and then we'll all be okay again soon…"

Winry looked up to see Al and Major Armstrong were almost through the pile of rocks. "Edward, they're almost there, just hang on a few more minutes…" Silence came from the hole for the next few moments, and Winry feared he might have passed out from his injuries. She didn't know how she was able to last as long as she had, for her head continued to pound terribly, and she was feeling lightheaded still. She was about to call out his name again, but didn't as she felt his hand squeeze hers again.

"I've found it!" Winry heard Al yell from the side. The major and he quickly removed the rocks that covered the damaged concrete and dirt-mixed mound and transmuted the top to move it out of the way, and carefully removed the injured teen.

Major Armstrong watched as the girl reluctantly let go of Edward's hand so they could pull him from the wreckage. Without discussing what to do next, Al gently lifted Edward from what was left of the building. It appeared the teen finally fell into unconsciousness and was dead weight in his arms. He turned around to see the Major picking up Winry as she began to fade in and out of consciousness. Her head still was bleeding badly, but she had refused for Al to tend to it once she saw what happened to Edward.

"Major, do you know where the hospital is? I haven't noticed one this entire time we've been here…"

"There's a small clinic on the edge of town that may be able to take care of them temporarily. I don't know if they have the capability to handle something like what these two have been through," replied the major, turning his head and surveying the damage. He would have to drop the two off with Al and come back to clean things up.

* * *

"What exactly happened to these children?" asked the doctor suspiciously as he examined the teen's injuries. "Did this have anything to do with the explosion that happened earlier in the town?" He lifted his head and arched an eyebrow at Al, who had been left while the Major went to fix the town destruction, pay off the inn fee, and gather the teen's bags. The late afternoon sun's rays shone through a nearby window and onto the teens, highlighting their pale faces, showing Alphonse just how much blood had been lost. 

"We, uh, ran into someone who didn't quite like us…" Al said quickly. He didn't like the way the doctor kept looking at him; it made him feel uncomfortable.

The doctor stood slowly over the two beds, and put his hands on his hips, "Well, I believe we can stabilize them until the next train arrives, which will be two hours or so. This one," he said, pointing at Winry, "has at least one broken rib, maybe more. But from listening to her breathing, she may also have a punctured lung. We can give you enough oxygen to keep on her until you get back to Central, so it shouldn't be so bad. I've heard there won't be any stops for the train ride, since it's a late night ride, which will make your trip much shorter as well. This one over here," he said as he pointed to Edward, "will be fine. That stab wound didn't hit anything major, so we can get it stitched up fairly quickly. He just has mostly cuts and bruises. I do fear for her though. If you do not get her back to Central to have her lungs checked out, I don't know if she would be able to recover fully."

Alphonse nodded at the doctor's information as he called in nurses to help clean the teens up. They quickly put an oxygen mask on Winry, to help her breathe better. "We're also going to sedate both of them, so they will be comfortable on the trip back. I don't think it would be pleasant to wake up on a train in their state. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll make arrangements to have someone transport you and them to the train station when the time comes…" The doctor walked out of the door to make the appropriate phone calls while Al watched the nurses begin to clean their injuries.

Al spent the next hour waiting by his brother and friend's bedside. They both slept peacefully with the help of the sedation, and for that he was glad. Major Armstrong finally showed up with the teen's bags in his hands, and relayed to Al that the mess had been cleaned up entirely, even the damage to the surrounding buildings. He also stated that the innkeepers were upset at first, until he explained the situation and fixed their building. Escorts arrived not long after the Major, and with the use of stretchers, carried the teens to the waiting cars. Without delay, the passengers boarded and began their trek back to Central.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys, I just got home from my karate class. About seven of us went out for smoothies afterwards, and I kind of lost track of time (damn you smoothies for being so sweet and delicious!). Anyway, I'd like to say thank you for all of the reviews so far (especially you, Indome…I might have to go through the fight scenes throughout the rest of the story and edit a tiny bit again…thanks for the advice). I do want to warn my readers though that the violence will slow down considerably for the next chapters. Lots of angsty teenager stuff is to happen soon! There will be plenty of more fighting stuff in this story, so do not despair! I might start posting more than one chapter each time so I do not lose any readers (sorry, I'm still kind of self-conscious about this story seeing that it's my first one I've ever posted – I get kind of scared that I'll piss someone off!).

Enough talking…Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Thirteen 

First Lieutenant Hawkeye had been assigned to watch over Winry until she woke up. The amount of Scar sightings had diminished in Central, and after hearing of him showing up in Heissgart, the Colonel felt relatively safe at Headquarters. Hawkeye stood watch by the door to prevent anyone from entering the girl's room without prior permission. It had been less than a day since the teens arrived, barely alive, back into Central. The care they received at Heissgart had been less than adequate, and the medical staff now worried about the chance of infections in any of the multiple wounds each body harbored. Edward had only minor injuries except for the one large gash in his side, which was irrigated and re-stitched upon admission to the infirmary. Winry, on the other hand, had not been as lucky. One of her lungs had indeed been punctured slightly by two broken ribs, and she had received a concussion from the trauma to her head.

The teens were stitched up and put into separate rooms, each with a member of Mustang's team watching over them. A small sound from Winry made Hawkeye turn her attention to the girl. She observed as she could see the girl's eyes opening slightly. Then, without warning, they flew open and Winry quickly sat up in bed.

"Where am I? Where's Edward and Al!" she screeched, unaware of her current surroundings. The lieutenant rushed to the girl's bedside and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Winry, it's okay. It's me, Lieutenant Hawkeye. Can you hear me?"

She watched as Winry calmed down slightly, but the toll of sitting up so quickly caused her to cough violently as her lungs protested. Hawkeye helped the girl to lie back down, though she still attempted to get up and out of bed. "You need to stay still! You will make yourself worse if you keep moving around like that," the officer scolded the girl, though gently placing another pillow underneath her head to prop her up slightly.

"Where is everyone, Lieutenant? Where am I? Is this still Heissgart?" Winry attempted to lift her left arm up to shield her eyes from the bright lights, only to remember it being destroyed by Scar. Turning her head to the officer, Winry asked quietly, "Where is Edward? Is he okay?"

The lieutenant's eyes softened, as she understood the girl's worry, "Edward is in the next room with Alphonse and Second Lieutenant Havoc watching over him. I do not believe he has come to yet, for the Second Lieutenant is supposed to report to me as soon as he does." Hawkeye reached for a cloth and wiped some blood from Winry's mouth. "You are in Central, though. You arrived late last night on the train from Heissgart with Al and Major Armstrong. Apparently you two wouldn't have been able to get adequate care from the physicians on hand in Heissgart, so you were brought here."

"I'd like to see Edward if it's okay," Winry asked quietly, causing the officer to frown slightly. "Absolutely not, especially in your state. If you're not careful you'll make yourself worse…"

The lieutenant looked down and saw the sadness written on the girl's face, and felt bad for her outburst. She leaned in closer to whisper in the girl's ear, "We'll see about a little later though after you've eaten something. I don't need you passing out on me." Winry looked up to the Lieutenant, smiled, and nodded her head in thanks.

Looking down, Winry saw the amount of damage that was done to her arm and sighed, "I guess I'm going to have to go home and have this fixed. It looks like it will require another surgery. A lot of the connection points in here were destroyed when he—" she became quiet for a few moments, remembering the amount of fear she felt at that moment, and cringed. "Either way," she continued a moment later, "this is something I can't fix right here. I'll have to get some help from Grams--"

"Do not worry, it has been all taken care of. We have informed your grandmother, and she is preparing for your arrival soon," informed Lieutenant Hawkeye, causing the teen to groan.

"Man, she's so going to kill me…"

"We explained the situation to her, and she understood fully the extent of your injuries. We are going to have you escorted to Rizenbul once you are able to travel," Hawkeye continued, eliciting another moan.

Winry looked out the window and noticed the sun was out, "Wait…What time is it right now? How long have I been here?"

"Why, it's mid-morning. You two have been here less than 12 hours, which is why I'm surprised you've waken up so early. The amount of sedation should have kept you out for the rest of the day…"

Silence encased the room for the next few minutes, as Hawkeye watched Winry gaze out the window. "I'm going to be out of commission for at least a month, if not longer…"

Winry balled her remaining hand into a fist and hit her the bed, "After all I've done to get where I'm at I had to go get hurt and ruin it! No one is going to take me seriously after they hear the poor little girl got hurt!"

Silence filled the room as Hawkeye understood her frustration, "No one is going to hold it against you, at least, no one who matters …" Winry turned her head to look at the officer with confusion. "State alchemists and superior officers understand the kind of power Scar possesses. He has killed at least sixteen state alchemists, but if you count the people who are around them it could easily grow to above thirty. The military isn't taking this sort of matter easy. To have been able to fight him and survive is an enormous feat. Even with Major Armstrong assisting you, the odds of all four of you surviving was small…"

Hawkeye placed a hand on what was left of Winry's left shoulder, "Besides, whoever holds this injury against you is ignorant, so pay no mind to them. And anyone who holds the fact that you're a girl against you, can come talk to me," she said with a smile.

"Now," Riza said as she walked back to her position by the door, "would you like to get some more rest, or would you like to try and eat something?"

Winry smiled at the lieutenant's comment, "I would like to try to eat something. The sooner I can prove to you I won't pass out, the sooner I can see Edward, right?"

Hawkeye nodded slightly and used the phone on the girl's nightstand to call for some food to be brought to the room. Winry wasn't really hungry, but if a meal were the only thing blocking her from seeing her friend, she would see to it that she ate enough.

* * *

Later that afternoon, after forcing down some fruit for a late breakfast and a small lunch, Lieutenant Hawkeye finally agreed to let Winry go next door to Edward's room. She carefully helped the younger girl into an available wheelchair and pushed her to the next room. Second Lieutenant Havoc stepped aside and saluted the young girl as the Lieutenant brought her into the room. Alphonse quickly stood up from his place by the window and rushed over to his friend. 

"Winry! You're awake already?" he whispered excitedly, "I'm glad to see you're okay, you were pretty banged up when we got here last night." Winry was wheeled up to the side of Edward's bed, as Al sat on the opposite side. Slowly, Winry turned in her chair slightly to face the two officers, "Could we possibly get some time alone, please? I'd really appreciate it…" Lieutenant Hawkeye nodded her head as her and Havoc saluted the girl, "Of course, we'll be outside if any assistance is needed." They quietly closed the door behind them, bringing silence to the room once more. Winry sat quietly next to Edward, afraid that anything she did would wake him up.

"Don't worry, he hasn't woken or moved since we arrived last night," said Al as he noticed her hesitation. Winry gently took his left hand within her right one and lightly squeezed it.

"I'm glad you're all right though, Winry. We were both really worried about you while we were fighting…"

He could see the silent tears slide down her cheek as she continued to study her injured friend. "Maybe if I had helped the whole time…then, maybe none of this would have happened. Edward told me to stay back, but I didn't…and now he's hurt…"

"Things may not have ended so well if they didn't happen the way they did," Al said softly, causing her gaze to rise to his metal body. "We've fought him before, and were lucky to survive then. Scar's only goal is to kill all state alchemis—"

"Why? What does he have against us? What have we done that makes us deserve to die…Was what my parents did so wrong that they deserved death?" More tears flowed down her cheeks as images of her childhood flashed through her head. She gripped Edward's hand tighter as she looked back to him, "And why did he have to go back after the Major showed up?"

Al stayed quiet for a few moments while Winry calmed down slightly. He was worried she would make herself worse if she kept being upset.

"You know, Winry, Brother really does care for you more than you think he does…" the younger brother said quietly, causing Winry to lift her head to stare at him. "It's true…When Scar threw you against that building and you hit your head pretty hard, we were still trying to get through the wreckage of your lightning attack. He saw us coming, and transmuted chains to wrap around us and our hands, so neither one of us could use transmutation to escape. These marks," he said, pointing out the many bruises that lined Edward's arm and body, "he got those as he tried to break free. He became reckless at one point because he thought…because he thought you were about to die…" Winry sat silently, listening to the information as she continued to hold Edward's hand, lightly stroking her thumb over his knuckles. Seeing her silence, Al continued, "I thought he had lost if for a second when Scar blocked both of us from you by creating that pile of debris. I had never seen him so panicked than the way he was yesterday…"

Nothing was said for the next few minutes, as Winry continued to study Edward's features and stroke his knuckles. "Al," she said after awhile, not taking her eyes off of the injured friend in front of her, "Why has Edward been reading books on automail recently?" Her tired face looked up to see Al's face glancing down towards his brother.

"He's been trying to find a way to make it easier for you whenever you have to change out a limb. He doesn't want you to have to go through the pain you do every time. He's also trying to find a way to get your arm and leg back too, along with his limbs and my body," the younger brother said quietly.

"Has he studied anything else during these past few months?" Winry asked. Al shook his head at her question, "Uh uh…I've been doing all the reading on the Philosopher's Stone these last few months, while he's been researching ways to help you. It really is no problem though, because most of the information is the same in all of the books—"

"Al, I want you to promise me something…" Winry interrupted softly as she gently released Edward's hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. "No matter what happens, I do not want you to tell him where I'm going. I will inform the Colonel as well of this. I'm going back to Rizenbul to get my arm fixed, but from then on I don't know where I'll be…"

"Why? He's going to be very upset when he doesn't know where you are and how you're doing…"

"I know, Al, I know…But I am not going to be the reason you don't get your body back. I…I love you two so much…and I don't want to prevent him from helping you like he's promised. I'm just…in the way…"

"No your not, Winry! If it's that important to you, he would probably let you help us out! I'm sure he'd rather have that instead of never knowing if you're okay," Al exclaimed as he stood up to protest.

"You're wrong, Al. He never wanted me to become a State Alchemist in the first place, because of the dangerous situations I would be involved in. He worries about me too much, and I don't want him to be distracted from his goals," she said quietly as she painfully stood from her wheelchair. Wiping more tears from her eyes first, Winry gently moved his bangs from his forehead, and sorely leaned forward to place a light kiss on his forehead. Straightening up, she gently squeezed his hand once more before turning to Al, "It's because I love him that I have to do this. I hope he'll understand as time passes."

Slowly Winry lowered herself back into her wheelchair, "Promise me, Al. You won't tell him anything…"

The younger brother sat in quiet contemplation for a few moments before admitting defeat, "Okay, Winry. I won't tell him where you're at…But he will try to find you when he realizes you're gone."

She nodded in understanding as she slowly wheeled herself to the door, "Please keep him pointed in the right direction, Al," she said as she slowly opened the door to alert Lieutenant Hawkeye that she was ready to leave. The Lieutenant could see the tear stains on the girl's cheeks and decided not to pry into what happened. As Winry was being pushed out of the room, she lightly grabbed the doorframe, and turned around for another look at the brothers.

"Please take care of him for me, Al. I want you two to be whole again…" she said with a sad smile. Al nodded, and Winry let go of the doorframe, signaling she was ready to leave. He watched as his friend was wheeled out, and looked down to his brother again, "You are not going to like this one bit, but I will keep my word," he said to the still unconscious Edward. "We will get our bodies back, brother. And then you can go to her…"


	14. Chapter 14

As I said, I might start posting more than one chapter at a time, so that explains this little addition. That and it's punishment for not coming home sooner to satisfy my readers' cravings!

P.S. Just to warn you, I think this chappie may be a tad slower than the others...It was one of my harder ones to write...

* * *

Chapter Fourteen 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE LEFT?" Edward yelled as he confronted Colonel Mustang early the next morning. He woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to check on Winry, but didn't want to disturb her if she was sleeping. Against Al's and the doctor's wishes, he began to search for her in the hospital, only to find she had left late the prior evening. Edward went straight to Mustang's office to confirm the rumor and was met with the same information, "How could you have let her leave! She's hurt worse than I am! Are you crazy?"

"Brother, you have to calm down, or you'll hurt yourself more…" Alphonse insisted, though Edward did not listen.

"Where did she go? Did you send her on another suicide mission already? She's only got one arm for Christ's sake!"

Colonel Mustang sat in his chair calmly as he listened to the teenager rant. He understood the teen's worries, but also promised to keep any information about the girl confidential. He would be the only person to know of her whereabouts at any specific time, and what she missions she would be sent on. Winry came to his office directly after leaving Edward's room last night, insisting she leave the same night for Rizenbul. The earlier she arrived and was repaired, the sooner she could leave. He denied her request at first, stating she was in no condition to travel at the moment, but was finally convinced when Lieutenant Hawkeye suggested that Second Lieutenant Havoc and Sergeant Fury accompany the girl to her hometown. The two officers escorted the young female to the train, and they left late in the evening. Mustang knew she was running away from the brothers, but opted not to become involved.

Edward balled his automail hand into a fist and slammed it into Mustang's desk after seeing his silent contemplation, "You _have_ to tell me where she went…"

"Full metal, that information is strictly confidential, so I believe you have no right to know where she is," the Colonel said as he watched the teen become angrier, "Now, as I remember you were in the middle of an investigation, so you will be sent back to Heissgart with an escort to finish your report. The Thunder-Blade Alchemist will take some time to recuperate, and then will be sent off on a separate mission. You may leave now--"

"NO! I won't leave until you tell me where she went—"

Lieutenant Hawkeye stepped forward with the last of her patience withering away, "Edward! I believe the Colonel just gave you an order…"

Edward stood before the Colonel's desk, still fuming over the situation. He lifted his eyes to the Colonel and narrowed them, "I will find her, whether or not you give me permission," he sneered before turning to leave.

"Edward, one more thing…"

He turned around to see Hawkeye approaching him with a box. She kneeled before him as she handed it over to the teen, "As she was leaving, Winry wanted me to give you this."

Edward received the box, but did not open it right away, "Thank you Lieutenant. At least one of you has some decency," he said harshly as he walked out the door. Alphonse bowed and apologized for his brother's actions before following him.

* * *

"I don't believe this! How could she just leave overnight without saying anything? What is going through her head?" Edward ranted as he and Al walked back into their normal quarters. He threw the box onto the bed and walked over to the window, folding his arms across his chest. 

"Why is she doing this?" Al heard Edward mutter to himself. "Brother," he said softly, breaking the silence that had settled, "Maybe she had a good reason for not telling us."

"She's our friend, Al…She should have let us know if there was a problem, and maybe we could have helped her with it," Edward griped to himself.

"What if…we were part of the problem?" Al responded quietly, trying not to let too much of her situation be known.

Edward turned around to look at his younger brother. Arching an eyebrow, he questioned him, "Al, do you know something I don't?"

Alphonse became very quiet and would not make eye contact with Edward. "Al…what are you hiding from me?"

"Ah, nothing! Nothing at all! I don't know what you're talking about brother…"

Edward slowly walked over and sat on the bed by Al, making the younger brother nervous, "Look brother! You forgot to open the box that she left for you," he said, quickly handing the package over to Edward. The elder brother sighed as he looked at the box in his lap.

"She made you promise not to say anything, didn't she," Edward muttered softly. Alphonse nodded slightly to the question as he saw Ed smile slightly to himself. _Why does she have to be so damn stubborn? _ Ed thought to himself. Silence surrounded the two siblings as each became lost in their own thoughts.

"Al? Answer me one question…" Edward finally said, bringing the younger brother from his silence. "Is she at least okay? I mean, from what all happened to her the other day?"

Al looked up to his brother's face to see it riddled with worry, though trying not to show it at the same time, "Yeah, Ed. She's doing okay…" Edward nodded and slowly opened the box that was left for him. In it held not only the extra automail arm and leg she brought with her, but also extra screws and bolts were included in case they were needed. He pulled out a small wrapped package that had a note taped to the top of it. Carefully opening the card, he read the words _You'll need these more than I will_ hastily scribbled on the piece of paper. Setting down the note, he opened the wrapped portion to reveal her wrench and screwdriver.

Edward stared at the small tools and slightly chuckled, "You know, Al, I never thought I'd see the day she would willingly give up her wrench. She's had this thing forever…" A small item towards the bottom of the box caught his eye, and he set down the tools to pick it up. Somehow wedged between the two limbs was the picture of Winry and Edward, the one she kept on her nightstand next to her parents' photo. Edward picked up the picture and gently stroked his thumb across the smooth edges. He carefully folded the picture and placed it in his coat pocket. Looking over to see his younger brother watching him, Edward grinned slightly before standing up and stretching.

"Well, first thing's first. We need to get back to Heissgart to finish what we started, then we'll take a detour on the way back here…"

"You're not planning on going to Pinako's are you brother?" Al said quietly, and then slapped his hand over his mouthpiece as he just realized what he had said.

Edward grinned at his sibling's reaction. "Don't worry, Al," he said as he began to pack a few things, "I kind of knew she would have to go there before anywhere else. She's got to get her automail fixed, right? And who else besides Winry could do such a good job?"

"But, Brother, I don't think that would be a good idea…"

"Nonsense!" Edward exclaimed as he closed his bag, "If we hurry, we may be able to relax for a day or so on the way back. It'd be nice to have Mustang off my back for once." He walked over to the door with his things, and turned around when he noticed Alphonse was not with him, "Come on, let's go!"

Al slowly stood from his place on the bed and shook his head as he joined his older brother for another trip.

* * *

Not long after the brothers left their room, they arrived at the train station. As Edward walked into the station, he saw a familiar bald head with a speck of blond hair well above the rest of the crowd. Ed tried to blend in with the rest of the crowd, but did not succeed as he felt a large hand on his shoulder with the accompanying loud voice, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you…" 

Edward turned around and faked a smile to the fellow alchemist. Armstrong nodded back and stared at the boy for a moment. In a split second, Ed felt his shirt being pulled up, and frantically tried to pull it back down, "Hey! What are you doing!"

Major Armstrong let go of the boy's shirt and bowed in apology, "Please forgive me, Full metal, I was going to check your wound to see how it was faring…"

"Well, it's doing fine," Edward huffed as he fixed his shirt and began to climb onto the train. He turned his head to see tears stream from the Major's eyes, "What? What's wrong now--"

Edward was not able to finish his sentence as he was pulled off the train and became stuck in the Major's deadly bear hug. "Oh, Edward, I was so worried for you and Winry! You two were so hurt, and here you sit denying the obvious pain you endured so you can finish your mission! How brave!" the older soldier sobbed while slowly cutting the airflow to the teenager. Al could see Edward struggling against Armstrong, and decided to assist, "Um, Major? We're going to be late if we don't board soon…"

Major Armstrong looked over and nodded to Alphonse, and released Edward, who coughed and tried to regain his breath. "Look, Major," Ed wheezed as he stood up again, "I just want to get this thing over with as soon as possible." He reached down and picked up his bag, then straightened his clothes again and entered the train without saying another word.

The Major watched the teen as he hopped on the train, and patted Alphonse on the shoulder, "Well, shall we?" Al nodded, prompting the two larger people to enter the train back to Heissgart. They were able to find Edward after a moment of looking, and found him sitting in a seat by the window. Al took the seat next to him, with the Major sitting across from them.

* * *

The three sat in silence as the train departed and began its journey. Edward began letting his mind drift, but became irritated when each thought wound its way back to Winry. Why did she have to constantly be on his thoughts? He shook his head and tried to think about something else, but eventually began thinking about her instead. How was she doing? Was she okay? Why did she leave? 

"Brother? Is something the matter?" Edward heard Al say as he shook his head again. He turned his head to see both Al and Major Armstrong staring at him. "Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong, I'm just thinking…" He mumbled before turning back to the passing scenery. A moment passed before Edward felt a hand squeeze his shoulder. He looked back to see it was Al. "Brother, she's going to be okay, you don't have to worry about her," the younger brother said. Ed's eyes softened as he nodded slightly in approval.

"That young lady has a very strong will," piped in Armstrong, "it seems as though when her mind is set to a task that nothing will be able to stop her…"

Ed chuckled slightly, "Yeah, she is pretty stubborn. You should have seen all the fights we had when we were younger. But we never could stay mad at each other for long." He scratched the back of his head after a moment and looked down.

"Uh, Major?" Edward said quietly. He could hear the older man shift in his seat, and looked up to see him looking at him. "I, uh…I just want to thank you for helping all of us the other day. I don't know what would have happened if –"

"There's no need to thank me, Edward Elric. You are a fellow comrade that was in need of assistance," interrupted the Major, not wanting the conversation to delve into the teen's injuries.

Edward understood what the older man was trying to do, and smiled slightly, "Yeah, fellow comrade…"

"Why were you in Heissgart though, Major? Colonel Mustang had already sent brother and Winry to investigate the outlaw alchemists at that point," inquired Al. He heard Ed laugh from his side, and looked to see him stretch out.

"Isn't it obvious? Mustang sent him because he knew we would get into trouble, isn't that right Major? Trouble always follows us, Al…"

Major Armstrong nodded slightly, "It was just as a precaution. Not long after you were sent on your mission, we received word of Scar's sighting near Heissgart. Knowing there would be obvious conflict if the girl saw him, the Colonel decided to send me as backup."

Edward furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean 'if she saw him'? Winry asked me to tell her about Scar, but I never got around to it. She said she only knew about as much as the public…" he trailed off. "But then after she escaped and came back, she accused him of killing her parents. Where would she get an idea like that?" He looked up to see the Major looking in the other direction, obviously wanting to end the conversation.

"Major, what did the Colonel tell her?" Edward growled, as realization hit him.

Silence surrounded the three, and Alphonse was grateful the train car they were in was relatively empty. He looked to the Major to see him staring off into the distance. "Major," he heard Edward say again harshly, "What did he tell her?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Rockbell were such nice people, it is sad to think of their deaths…" Armstrong said after a few more moments. He turned his head to see the two bewildered teens. "But you will have to ask the Colonel himself why he decided to withhold the information. It is not my place to disclose it."

The Major watched as Edward sighed and looked outside the window once again to ignore the older alchemist. He understood the teen's anger and yearn for information, but he was not the one to divulge it to them.

Hours passed before the train finally pulled into the small Heissgart station. Nothing had been said between the three companions since the small argument earlier, and the silence continued as they exited the train. Once off the train, Edward looked around the small station and sighed. He reached into his coat to pull out the picture and looked at it for a few moments. He finally placed it back into his pocket and turned to his companions, "I don't want to be here long. I've got other matters to take care of on the way back…"


	15. Chapter 15

Well hello to everyone on this fine Friday night! I decided to post another chapter tonight (on top of the ones I will post this weekend) to kind of move things along. I appreciate the reviews from everyone, and I won't keep you reading my author's notes when you could be reading the story!

Enjoy!

Oh, and P.S. to Indome…I chuckled when I read your last post and actually went back to the first chappie to check and make sure I mentioned it. It's kind of small but when Winry gets back to the house and looks at the arm Pinako had made for her, she asked the elder woman if she packed the two limbs she had set out ("Who knows when he will need another one"). She figured since she was taking the test to be an alchemist, she'd better prepare ahead and get some spare limbs for Edward since he gets himself into trouble quite a bit. The limbs in the box left for him were the spare ones she held onto in case he ever needed them. It's such a small comment, which is why I had to go back and double check it!

Crap…I made you guys read through an authors note anyway…Gomen!

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

"Edward, I don't believe the Colonel authorized a stop in Rizenbul on the way back to Central…" piped Major Armstrong, as the three stepped off the train in the remote area. The teenager turned around and grinned at the older alchemist, "Yeah, well, he doesn't have to know about it. He's still in Heissgart with Lieutenant Hawkeye finishing the report involving Brigadier Nemda. That buys us a few days before he returns to Central, and by that time we'll be back!"

Edward looked to see Alphonse and the Major shake their heads in frustration, "You don't ever learn, do you Brother?" questioned Al. Edward shrugged his shoulders and began walking towards the road that would lead to the Rockbell residence. The other two quickly caught up to him, and they walked in silence most of the way. An hour had passed before Edward was able to make out Winry's house on the hill. Without warning, he began to run towards the house, leaving his brother and Armstrong behind him.

As the teenager came closer to the house, he was able to see Auntie Pinako sweeping the front porch off, while Den sprawled out in the front yard. He watched as she saw him, and stopped sweeping to lean on her broom. He ran straight up to the porch past Den, paused to catch his breath, and heard Al and the Major finally catch up behind him.

"Well, if it isn't Edward and Alphonse. Hello, Major Armstrong," she nodded her head to his direction, causing the man to stand up straight and salute. "There's no need for that here, Major. You all can relax. What brings you here, boys?"

"We came to visit Winry, and see how she's doing," replied Edward as he walked up the steps, "Is she in her room, or is she stubborn and in her workshop already?"

He saw Auntie Pinako's eyes drop to the ground for a moment, and felt a slight fear slowly fill him. Was she all right?

"Well, I'm afraid you're too late boys. She left just a day or so ago to start another mission; word was sent out here for her, and she was finally able to leave…"  
"Huh? She's not here?" said Edward quietly as he plopped down onto a bench. "But how? Not with how her arm was, she would have to heal for at least another week or two."

"Well, you know how she is, Edward. I can never talk any sense into her."

The older woman watched as sadness slowly filled the teen's features. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her, "Don't worry, though. She'll be fine soon enough." Pinako saw him nod slightly, and she turned to lean her broom against the house. "Well, since you three are here, you might as well stay for a late lunch, and then dinner. It won't take long for me to whip something up. Edward, you and Alphonse know your way around the house. Why don't you three make yourselves comfortable, and show the Major here where he can sleep tonight."

Edward reluctantly stood up and walked into the house behind the older woman, followed by Al and Major Armstrong. Alphonse had the Major follow him to show him where he would be staying, while Ed plopped down on the couch, and Pinako walked into the kitchen to prepare their meal. Den slowly walked over to the couch and laid his head on Edward's lap, wanting him to scratch his head.

Edward instinctively reached down and scratched the canine's head while he let his mind wander. He was so excited at the chance of seeing Winry, that the thought never crossed his mind that she may not be here. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the phone ring from the kitchen. He vaguely heard Pinako talking to someone, and finally decided to go see if she needed any help. He had to get his mind off of his friend.

"Yes, dear. They're here. Don't you worry, just take care of yourself and please be careful. You know you need to let that arm heal some more before doing anything strenuous," Pinako lectured before noticing Edward walking towards the kitchen from the corner of her eye. "Well, I need to be getting off of here, I'm in the middle of cooking. Take care, dear." The elder woman hung up the phone before acknowledging the teen's presence.

"Who was that?" Edward asked as he sat down on a stool next to the counter.

"When did you become so nosy, Edward?" Pinako laughed as she continued to mix the contents in the bowl in front of her.

"I'm sorry, it just sounded like you were talking to Winry for a second there. But then again, you fix many peoples' arms, so it could be any one of your clients…"  
"True, it could. Well, then. Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to let an old woman slave over your meal all by herself?" she said, smiling slightly at her joke. Edward smiled back as he took the bowl from her and began mixing, while she lit her pipe.

* * *

The redheaded teenager hung up the phone before facing her friend, "Yeah, it seems the boys are there, just like you said. Oh yeah, and your grandmother said, and I quote, 'Don't you worry, just take care of yourself and please be careful. You know you need to let that arm heal some more before doing anything strenuous'…"

Winry laughed slightly at her friend's imitation of her grandmother. "I know, I know…I gotta take it easy for another few weeks. I'm just glad I came over here when I did, Regan. Thanks for all your help…"

"No problem. I didn't believe you when you said Edward and Alphonse would come back, but hey…you _were_ right."

"What can I say? I lived next to them for _how_ many years?"

The redhead laughed as she sat down on the bed her friend laid in, "Yeah, what can I say. I'm just the friend who lived at the end of the street that no one would come play with that often—"  
"That's not true! You and I play quite a lot together, thank you very much! And you don't live that far from my house!" Winry exclaimed, causing Regan to smile.

"I know, I'm just picking on you…" she said, causing Winry to nod. "So, how much longer do you think it's going to take before you can go bashing peoples' heads again?" Regan asked sarcastically.

"Well," Winry said, painfully stretching out her left arm, "Grams had to do another surgery to fix some of the connections, which I might say WAS not pleasant, but um…I should be able to train again in about two more weeks. I'll have to take it slow at first, but it should be fine after that. "

"Ugh, does that mean those two guys you came with have to stay here too? Father isn't happy about it, especially since that blond one keeps looking at me…"

The comment caused the blond girl to laugh to herself, "He's harmless, and anyways we're only going to be here for a night or two…Just until the boys leave, and then we'll head back home for the rest of the time…"

Silence surrounded the two teenage girls for a few minutes before Regan spoke, "Why exactly are you hiding from Edward anyway? I know how close you two were when we were younger, so why are you making him worry like this?" She noticed Winry's face drop slightly, and feared she may have asked an inappropriate question. Winry finally lifted her head and looked her friend in the eyes, "I'm just a barrier between him and a promise he had already made. I refuse to be the reason that promise is not fulfilled. So, until then, I'm going to avoid him at all costs," she said as she turned her head towards the window.

"I hate knowing that I'm causing him pain, but he'll get over me soon and continue what he set out to do. I guess after everything is said and over with, and if he doesn't hate me by then, then I'll see him again."

"You know he can never stay mad at you for long. Even when we were kids, when you two would fight, he would have made up with you by the end of the day. He's always had a soft spot for you, Winry," Regan pointed out.

"Yeah, that soft spot is the reason why all of this is happening," replied Winry. Her eyes opened wide as a thought popped into her head, "Oh, Regan! Were you able to get those flowers from the market I asked for earlier? Mom's birthday is coming up in a day or so, and I wanted to place the new ones on her grave…"

"I wasn't able to go because I was helping to get your two friends settled for the night," the red-head replied, seeing the smile disappear from Winry's face, "Buuuuutttt…Mom went out and got them for me instead! They're in the fridge to help keep them fresh for a few days, so don't worry. And yes, I also had mom pick up some for Ed and Al's mom too. I know how you put flowers on hers almost as much as your own parent's…" Regan reached over to hug her friend, "You didn't think I'd let you down like that, did you?"

Winry shook her head at her friend's question. "Thank you so much. I had placed some on Mrs. Elric's grave when I got home, but I'll add those to it when I visit mom. Her birthday was just a month or so ago, but I wasn't here then."

* * *

"Edward," Alphonse said as the two sat on the upstairs porch after lunch, "Mom's birthday wasn't too long ago. Maybe we should go see her before we have to leave tomorrow."

Birds flew around outside as the sun shined brightly overhead. Edward leaned back against the house and watched the relaxing scenery before him. "Yeah, I guess we can do that."

"And since we'll be around the cemetery, we should drop by and say hello to Regan as well," Al continued, "We haven't seen her in a long time, and I'm sure she'd appreciate a visit every once in awhile…"

Al heard Edward snicker from the side, and turned his head to see his brother smiling, "What, do you have a crush on her or something, Al?"

"What! It's not like that! You know we've been friends with her since we were little, and –" Al stopped talking when he saw Edward stand up and walk towards the door, "Brother?"

"You know I was just picking on you," laughed Edward as he opened the door, "C'mon Al, let's go visit mom…"

* * *

Edward and Alphonse walked into the small cemetery shortly after leaving the Rockbell residence. Pinako seemed hesitant to let them leave since she thought they would be late for dinner, but they assured her they would be back within plenty of time to eat. They passed Winry's parent's gravesites and paused in respect before continuing to their mother's spot.

"Brother, look!" Edward heard Al speak, as they got closer to their mother's grave. The two walked up to see a bundle of flowers in a wooden cup filled with water next to her headstone. Edward smiled as he realized the flowers were the same as he held in his hands; the same flowers he picked from behind Winry's house.

"Who would have left flowers for mom?" Al asked inquisitively. Edward smiled as he handed his small bundle to Al. Walking over to a nearby tree, Edward noticed a branch had been broken off. Taking another small branch from the tree, Edward transmuted it into a similar cup and filled it with water from the fountain at the front of the cemetery. Edward brought back the cup and placed his flowers in them, then set them on the other side of his mother's headstone.

"There," the elder brother said, clapping his hands to remove any dirt, "Now it matches." The boys stood for a few minutes looking at their mother's grave, their minds lost in their own thoughts. A thought crossed Edward's mind, and Al watched as his brother reached down and removed two flowers from the bundle in the cup. He returned to the tree and took yet another branch, and broke it in half. He transmuted each piece into a tiny vase, only big enough to hold a couple flowers. He put water in each container, and put one next to each of the Rockbell's headstones.

"Brother, what are you doing? You've never put flowers on the Mr. and Mrs. Rockbell's graves before," Al asked, as he walked up to his brother.

"I guess you can say I'm returning the favor," Edward spoke as he paid his respects again and began to walk out of the cemetery.

* * *

"I think it's nice that you put flowers on Mrs. Elric's grave. And I think she'll understand if you missed her birthday because you were out playing a game of state alchemy with her sons," Regan laughed as she spoke to Winry. "And I never got to say this to you, because I haven't seen you in awhile, but I'm proud Winry, for you making State Alchemist. Who would have known two of my childhood friends would have become state alchemists? Much less one being the youngest ever to pass the test, and you being the first female to as well; it kind of makes me feel inadequate…" the girl joked while scratching the back of her head.

"Regan!" came her father's voice from downstairs, "You've got visitors!"

The red-headed girl looked to Winry in confusion, "Who would be visiting me? Usually father just sends them up. Hang on a second, Winry, I'll be right back," Regan said as she stood up.

"Don't worry about me, if you've got company, spend some time with them…" Winry replied, causing Regan to nod.

Regan walked out of the room, closed the door quietly behind her, and walked up to the railing on the second floor. "Father, who's here for me?" She looked down to see Edward and Alphonse walking into the foyer, with her father closing the door behind them. "Regan, honey. Edward and Alphonse have come to see you! It's been awhile hasn't it? We've been getting a lot of people latel—"

"Edward! Alphonse! How good it is to see you!" she shouted loud enough for her friend to hear on the other side of the door. "It _has_ been awhile since we've seen each other. Father! Could you possibly take them to the back patio so we can sit and have a drink, that way we don't bother our _other_ guests, please?" Regan saw her father nod in response, and continued, "Don't worry, boys! I'll be out in just a moment. I just need to freshen up a tad!" She saw the brothers looking slightly confused, but at least they followed her father outside.

As soon as they were out of sight, Regan burst back through the door to Winry's room and slammed the door shut behind her. She glanced around the room looking for her friend, but didn't see her anywhere. "Winry? It's just me, it's safe to come out now." A moment later, Regan saw the bed ruffle move slightly and Winry's head poke out from underneath it. "I guess you heard me, huh?" Regan laughed as she walked over to help her friend out from under her bed. Winry yelped in pain as she accidentally tried to prop herself up with her left arm, but had help from Regan to prevent herself from falling.

"What am I supposed to do Regan? I don't think they'll come up here, but what if they find Havoc and Fury? Edward will know I'm here!"

"Don't worry, Winry," the teenager said to calm her friend, "I'm going to find them first and tell them to stay put while the boys are here. Sheesh, of all the days to want to pay a visit, they would have to pick this one!"


	16. Chapter 16

As promised, here are the next two chapters to my story! I really don't have much to say, since I now have to go and gouge my eyes out after watching the newest remake to the Amityville Horror…

Note: Don't worry, Indome. I'm a fellow blond and have my moments quite often (You can ask my coworker!).

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

The boys left Regan's house after visiting, and on their walk back to the Rockbell's, they decided to stop by the burnt remains of their house. Edward watched as Alphonse reminisced in the remains, tracing his steps through each room, and talking about the old days. Ed vaguely listened as his thoughts were in a totally separate place.

_It's sad…_Edward thought to himself,_ this is really the first time I've thought of our predicament, of trying to get our bodies back. I've been thinking of Winry so much lately, that it just dawned on me. I've still got to find a way to get both of our bodies back, if not mine, than at least Al's. I've been putting off studying for the Philosopher's Stone because I've been looking for ways to make limb adjustments easier…for her. I hate to see her in pain, I'd do anything to prevent it, but at the same time I swore to get our bodies back. Am I being selfish? Can I do both tasks at once?_

"Brother," Al said, bringing Edward from his thoughts, "Are you okay? Something's troubling you, I can tell…"  
"Don't worry, Al, it's nothing. Well," Ed said after a moment, "Are we ready to head back for dinner?"

Alphonse nodded his head, and the two began to walk again. "Regan has grown up a lot since the last time we saw her. Wasn't it right before you tested to be a State Alchemist?" Al said, trying to cheer his older brother up. "She used to be so quiet and hide behind her long hair, but she finally chopped it off and is not afraid to be the one talking. I'm surprised we got a word in the whole time!" He looked over to see his brother smile slightly. "I'm glad we stopped by, aren't you Ed?"

"Yeah," replied the elder brother. Silence prevailed as the two continued walking. Alphonse knew Edward was thinking about Winry, and he seemed so sad for some reason. "Brother," Al said finally, "Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

Edward stopped walking and stared at Al, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You know, Winry…Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

Ed frowned slightly and started to walk again, slightly faster than normal, "I don't know what you're talking about, Alphonse…"

Al cringed slightly, but quickly caught up with Edward, "Everyone can see you two have feelings for each other, so why don't you tell her?"

Edward whirled around and faced his brother, "Just drop it, Al. That's enough. Besides, even if I _did_ want to tell her how I felt, she's not _here_ for me to tell her, now is she?" he snapped out, then turned around again and walked faster towards the house.

"Brother, STOP!" Al yelled, causing Edward to stop in his place, and turn around to face him with surprise written on his face. Al closed the distance between the two quickly, "Why do you always have to be so stubborn! Why are you denying everything?" Al looked to the sky, "Please forgive me Winry," he said quietly.

"Brother, you can't ignore the fact that you have feelings for her, it's written all over your face. You've done nothing but pout all day since we've gotten here! Look," he said after a few moments, "Winry doesn't want to be in the way. She wants us to get our bodies back, but is afraid of coming between us and our goal." Al wasn't going to tell Edward _everything_ she said, for that was something she would need to discuss with him.

"What?" Edward finally said after a few moments, "She was afraid of being in the way? She'd never be in the way!"

"She thought you would say that Ed, but look at what happened in Heissgart with her, and how you reacted when she got hurt. It hurts her a lot too to be away from us, but she thought it would be better until we get our bodies back."

Edward stood in silent contemplation at the new information. "Al, we _are_ going to get our bodies back, though I don't know how long it will take," he said as he placed his hand on Al's arm. "I just hope she'll still be there when we're done…"

Al placed his own hand on Ed's shoulder, "Don't worry, brother, I have no doubt she will still be there waiting for you…"

Edward nodded his head, and smiled, "Well, let's get back to Pinako's before she begins to think we've run off."

* * *

The boys began walking again and arrived back at the house shortly thereafter. They walked in to see Pinako giving Major Armstrong a few bowls to set on the table, while checking on the stew in her pot. She looked over to see the boys walking into the room and smiled. "Well, it took you boys long enough now didn't you," she said while getting glasses down from the shelf.

"Yeah, well we stopped by a friend's house on the way back. We haven't seen Regan in a long time, so we dro—"

CRASH!

Edward and Alphonse jumped at the sudden noise, and looked to see that Pinako had dropped three glasses onto the floor, shattering all of them. "Oh, my my…Look at what I've done. You boys don't come in here; I don't want you to get cut. Major, would you grab my broom and dustpan from that closet over there? Thank you very much." Pinako began to sweep the pieces up from the floor and dumped them into the trash.

"Silly me, I really must be getting old if I'm dropping everything. Now what were you saying Edward? You stopped by Regan's house?" Pinako asked, as she saw the teen nod, "Well, I haven't seen that girl in what seems like forever. You used to play with her a lot when you children were younger. How is she doing?"

Al piped in Edward helped himself to the stew in front of him, "She seems to be doing fine. I think her father may have turned their house into a bed and breakfast though, because she was afraid of disturbing her guests. Their house is big enough to, since all of her siblings moved out…" He saw Pinako nod at this and begin dishing out her own stew.

"Yes, well that child is part of a larger family, now isn't she? Well, it was nice of you two to visit with her. Since Winry's been gone, there has really been no one her age around here to talk with."

"Auntie Pinako?" Ed asked as he finished his food a few minutes later and placed his bowl in the sink, "Could I talk with you for a second?" The older woman looked at the teenager inquisitively, but finally nodded as she, too, placed her bowl in the sink to wash soon. The two walked into the other room and closed the door behind them.

"What is it Edward?" Pinako asked as soon as the door was shut.

"Is it okay for me to use the workshop for a little bit tonight? There's something I need to do before I leave tomorrow…"

The elder woman sighed in relief, "That's it? Of course you can use it, Edward. I thought something was wrong for a moment."

Edward smiled and hugged the small woman, "Thanks, auntie. For everything…" He let go of her, and began to walk upstairs to the workshop.

_I wonder what he could be up to_, thought Pinako, but finally shrugged her shoulders and walked back into the kitchen to find Major Armstrong with his sleeves rolled up, washing the dishes. "If only every man would be like you, my life would be set," joked the older woman as she sat in a nearby chair and lit her pipe.

HR>

Early the next morning, after a wonderful breakfast made from the traditional Armstrong cookbook, the three men left stood on the porch to give their farewell to Pinako. Edward came up and gave the elder woman a sealed envelope, "Thanks for everything, Auntie, as usual. Could you give this to Winry the next time you see her? I have a feeling she'll be home soon," he smiled. Pinako held the envelope and nodded in agreement. She waved as the three began to walk towards the train station, and waited until their figures faded into the distance before walking back into the house to inform her granddaughter of their departure.

"Hello Regan, it's Pinako. Can you tell Winry it's clear for her to come home now? And make sure she doesn't try to do or lift anything, that's why she has those two soldiers with her. Thank you dear," she said before hanging up the phone. The elder woman placed the envelope in the middle of the table, and went to await her granddaughter's arrival from the porch. Not much time went by before she saw a group of people walking from where Regan's house stood. Second Lieutenant Havoc led the way with Winry and Regan behind him, followed by Sergeant Fury who was stuck with carrying Winry's bag. Pinako could see Winry looking around; as if she was afraid someone would jump out from behind a bush or tree. She cradled her left arm with her other, and kept it resting lightly in a sling.

"I heard you had some visitors yesterday, Regan," Pinako laughed as the group came up to the house. Regan smiled, and replied, "Yeah, I don't know how we got out of that one, but fortunately we were able to hide these two guys. If Ed or Al would have saw either one of them, the gig would have been up."

"Well, thank you again for taking care of her overnight, and for putting up with extra complications," Pinako said as she continued to smoke her pipe, causing Havoc to light up his own cigarette.

"It was no problem! I hadn't talked to those two boys anyway in such a long time, so it was really no bother…"

"Grams, did Ed and Al stop by the cemetery yesterday at all?" Winry asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, dear, what makes you ask?"

"Oh, nothing," she said as she smiled and remembered the extra flower that was put on both of her parent's grave. Since the cemetery was on the way, Winry insisted on stopping so she could put the flowers Regan's mother bought the day prior on her mother's plot. She was surprised, to say the least, to see not only more flowers on Mrs. Elric's grave, but also one next to each of her parent's headstones. She had figured it had been Edward, from the way that the wood was transmuted into the different containers.

"Well, Winry, I need to start getting back home. I promised mom I'd go with her to market today, so she's waiting on me. Call me before you leave, okay?" Regan said as she watched her friend thinking. Winry nodded and gently gave her friend a hug, then waved with her right hand as Regan began to jog back down the path to her house.

"By the way, Winry, Edward left something for you. It's in an envelope on the kitchen table," the older woman said as she puffed on her pipe. Winry turned her head to look at her grandmother in confusion, but nodded her head and walked inside, leaving both Havoc and Fury to talk with her grandmother.

"Well, will you boys be heading back soon?" she asked the two officers. Fury stood up from petting a sleeping Den to answer her question, "Well, the Colonel asked us to just bring her out here, but didn't say how long we need to stay. Did he say anything to you, Havoc?

"Nope, not a thing…" Havoc replied as he flicked away his cigarette, "I tried calling him a couple days ago, but was told he had to go to Heissgart to take care of something. I'll try again tomorrow," he turned and smiled as he faced the older woman, "unless you needed us out of here sooner, I mean…"  
"No, there's no rush, so don't you worry. I want to thank you, though, for bringing her home so quickly," Pinako thanked the two soldiers.

Fury stepped up and bowed to Pinako, "Don't worry, it was no problem. We're surprised she's up and walking around so quickly after what she went through."

"Yeah, she took quite a beating, but she's a strong one. If only she was older—I mean, for her to be able to stand up against Scar…There's a lot of Alchemists who can't even scratch him!" Havoc blushed and scratched his head, trying to cover up what he almost said.

Pinako smiled as his comment; there was no fooling her. She heard what he said.

* * *

Winry walked into the house and went straight to the kitchen. On the table laid an envelope with her name scrawled on the front in Edward's handwriting. Sitting down in a nearby chair, the girl picked up the envelope and stared at it for a few moments. What could he possibly have left for her? _Maybe it's a letter yelling at me because he couldn't do it in person_, she thought to herself. She carefully opened the envelope and removed the letter from within it. There was also another, smaller sealed envelope next to it. She unfolded the note and read the message written inside:

_Winry,_

_I wish I could give this to you in person, hell, to tell you in person, but I bet you're getting this the same day we left your house anyway. I knew you were around Rizenbul somewhere, but I couldn't pinpoint it. Anyway, Al and I are going to continue our search for the Philosopher's Stone. I don't know when and where we will see each other again, but we will, so don't worry. I know I'm not there to ask, but I would like you to promise me you won't go after Scar just because of what he did to your parents. He's dangerous, as you have seen, and I don't want you to do anything stupid, because we both know you and I are capable of doing crazy things without thinking first._

_I understand how you feel about being in the way of my promise to regain Al's body. Which is why I included what is in the second envelope. You know how bad I am with telling anyone how I'm feeling, so I used the only thing I'm good at._

_Please stay safe until that day we meet again._

_Edward_

Winry's eyes began to tear up at his letter. During the whole time he had been gone after training for state alchemist, she had barely received one letter; she knew how hard it was for him to write anything, so for her, this was special in itself. She picked up the second envelope and felt something in the bottom of it. Carefully opening it, Winry pulled out a pendant and chain. The shiny silver pendant was in the shape of the symbol on Al's shoulder and both Edward's and her jackets, the one with the snake wrapped around a cross with a crown at the top. It wasn't very big, being about the size of a larger coin, but it had wonderful detail. She could make out each of the serpent's scales on the front of the piece. On the back of the snake, Winry read the short inscribed message:

_Please wait for me_

Tears now freely flowed down the girl's cheeks at the message. _Of course I will wait for you Edward, I'll wait forever if I have to…_the girl thought to herself. "Just come back to me," she said softly to the empty room. She folded the note back up and put it in the envelope once again, and held the pendant in her right hand, the cool metal pressing against her skin.

"Child, what's wrong?" she heard her grandmother say as she walked into the room. Winry looked up and smiled at her, "Nothing, absolutely nothing. Would you mind putting this on me Grams? I'm afraid automail hands are not very good at manipulating jewelry," she asked the elder woman. Pinako looked at the piece of metal and smiled, "So that's what he was working on last night."

"You mean he made this?"

"Well, I don't know if he carved it himself, or if he transmuted it, but I'd have to say he did a fine job either way," replied her grandmother as she clasped the chain around the girl's neck. "He even measured the necklace length right; it's not too short or long. If he ever gets out of the military he could have a good career ahead of him."

Winry walked around the room to a mirror on the opposite wall to look at it. Her grandmother was right, the pendant hung in just the right place.

_Yes, Edward, I'll be waiting_, Winry thought again as she reached up to grasp the precious gift.


	17. Chapter 17

Nothing new within the five minutes that have passes since I posted the last chapter!

:c)

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

A few weeks had passed since Winry had surgery on her left arm, and she was finally able to move it without feeling much pain. Colonel Mustang instructed both Second Lieutenant Havoc and Sergeant Fury to stay in Rizenbul with the girl, and report back when she was well enough to return to duty. The three had become good friends and would practice their fighting out on the large hill by the river that was close to the house.

"Ow! Why'dja have to hit me like that?" Havoc exclaimed as he rubbed the new bruise on his arm. Winry felt bad for punching him so hard and came up to see if she could help him. He surprised her by reaching and pulling her right arm behind her back into a lock and wrapping his arm around her neck to hold her still. "Hahahaha! Try to get out of that one!" The girl smirked at her stupidity for falling for his trick, and wrenched her right hand away. She then grabbed him with her left arm and flipped him over her, making him release her neck. Havoc twitched as he lay on the ground, not realizing the girl was going to fight back. A moment passed before he regained his senses and kicked his legs around to trip Winry. Her legs flew out from underneath her and she landed hard on the ground. Winry groaned as her body protested, but she quickly looked around to see Jean getting up and coming after her again. Kicking herself up, Winry quickly placed herself into a defensive position and waited for him to attack.

Winry was so focused on watching Havoc that she didn't notice the small shadow approaching from behind her until both of her hands were pulled behind her in another bind.

"Sorry, Winry," apologized Cain, "You were kind of open…"

Havoc saw his chance and began to run towards the duo. "Not for long!" the girl screamed out, as she jumped high, giving her enough room to land a nice kick onto Jean's stomach and sending him backwards again. As she jumped, she grabbed Fury's wrist with her automail and squeezed hard, causing him to yelp in pain and let go of her arms. She landed, still keeping her grip on him, pulled hard to fling the soldier around into his buddy as he attempted to stand again, causing both to crash to the ground.

Winry smiled as both men groaned to themselves, and dusted her hands off onto her pants. "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to go that hard on you, but I think my arm's completely healed now!" She went to take a step back, but didn't realize she was at the top of the hill. She stumbled slightly, but it was enough for her to lose her balance and begin to roll down the hill towards the river.

"Winry!" yelled both soldiers as they ran to the side of the hill. The girl had continued rolling down the hill until she stopped moving towards the bottom. Both men ran down to the bottom of the hill to help their comrade, and noticed her sitting up when they reached her.

"Ow, that hurt," she complained as she pulled grass from her hair. She patted herself to make sure there wasn't anything broken, but became frantic when she noticed her necklace was gone. "Oh, no! It must have come off while I was falling!" Winry began crawling on all fours looking for the shiny metal among the tall grass. Both Havoc and Fury, realizing she was okay except for a few minor cuts and bruises, helped her look for the necklace.

"I can't believe I was so stupid…I should have known better than to practice with it on…Oh god what have I done…" Winry mumbled to herself as she continued to search, but was relieved when Havoc yelled that he had found it. She got up and ran to him as he checked to see if the necklace was damaged. She sighed in relief, and held her hair back so the soldier could clasp it back together.

"Thanks, I don't know what I would have done it I lost it," Winry thanked, causing Jean to blush slightly.

"Are you okay? That was quite a fall you took," asked Fury, looking her over for any major injuries. "No, I'm fine, I just need to not be so cocky and watch where I'm going," the girl laughed to herself, causing both men to smile.

"Good, cause I know Mustang will have a fit if you get hurt while you practice with us," Jean replied, dusting his clothes off.

"What, you trying to say you go easy on me or something?" Winry mocked, shaking her left fist at the blond man.

"No, you keep us on our toes if anything," interjected Cain, "Do you want to go another round, or are you two ready to head back?"

Looking up to the sky, Winry could see that dusk would settle shortly, "Nah, let's go ahead and head back. Gram's probably making dinner as we speak."

* * *

The three comrades climbed back up the hill and began the short trek to the Rockbell house in relative silence. Winry could remember vividly each time Edward and Alphonse would spar with each other after Edward got a new limb and had to test it out. She smiled at the memory and wondered if they were doing okay. She called Mustang last week to tell him that she was almost healed, but had heard no news on how the brothers fared. She hoped they were okay.

The house came into sight within a few more minutes of walking, and sure enough, Winry could see her grandmother in the kitchen working on another meal. "C'mon guys, let's go get patched and cleaned up before we eat!" she shouted before taking off running towards the house. She could hear the surprised yelps from her two friends as they began to run behind her. She ran right up to the steps, and jumped over Den who was sleeping at the top, before running into the house.

"We're home! Oh, Grams, it smells so good in here!" Winry exclaimed as she stopped running, and walked into the kitchen.

"It looks like you took quite a beating during practice! How did your arm do?" Pinako smiled as she looked at the dirt-covered girl. She reached up and pulled some grass from the teenager's hair and put it in the trashcan.

"It was more like we were the ones getting the beating," spoke Fury from behind the younger girl, "Mrs. Rockbell, I'm going to miss your cooking when we have to go back to Central. That cafeteria food is nothing compared to what you can make!"

Pinako looked around Winry to see the two men and their bruises and smiled to herself. "Well, go and get yourselves cleaned up. Winry, you know where the antiseptic and bandages are at. You've probably got enough time to get a shower, if you'd like, before dinner is ready."

Winry nodded and led both men to bandage their wounds, "You heard Grams. Let's get you two cleaned up."

* * *

The warm water soothed her aching muscles. Her arm didn't hurt nearly as much as it did a few weeks ago, but since she had not practiced her fighting in such a long time, her muscles protested moving during the night. As she checked her left arm for any stray dirt or grass, she felt the rest of the dirt and grime wash away. Winry stood there for what seemed like forever and let the water trail down her under the showerhead, and didn't bother to move her hair that fell in front of her face.

Reluctantly, Winry reached down to turn the water off a few minutes later, and grabbed a towel to dry off. She wrapped one around her, and used the other one to wrap her hair in. Not worrying about anyone seeing her since the bathroom was connected to her room she walked into her room and sat on the bed. She could see the shadows from the setting sun coming through the drapes covering her windows. The wind blew gently through the window, as she usually left it open at nighttimes in the fall. After listening to the calmness for a moment, Winry stood up and walked over to her dresser and pulled out a long-sleeved shirt. It wasn't a heavy fabric, which she liked since she could wear it even during the summer and not roast. She slipped the clingy green shirt over her tiny frame, grabbed a pair of complementing jeans to go with it, and put on her boots. Instinctively she grabbed her alchemist watch from her nightstand and attached it to her belt loop, and stuffed it in her pocket.

Winry grabbed the towel and continued to pat her hair dry as she walked over to the window and opened the drapes. She grabbed a nearby brush and ran it through her damp hair as she noticed the scene before her. The setting sun seemed to be on fire as it lowered itself beneath the mountains in the distance, and she found it to calm her nerves. An idea popped into her head and she ran out of her room to yell over the railing, "Grams, how much longer until dinner?"

"At least another 15 to 20 minutes. Don't worry, it's not much longer!"

Winry smiled at the response and returned to her room. Moving the drapes out of her way, she sat on the windowsill with her legs dangling over the edge. Looking out, Winry saw the familiar, old tree that grew next to the house, and reached out to a big branch. Winry pulled herself off of the windowsill and dangled by her arms from the large limb. After a few swings of her legs, the teenager got the momentum to swing up and straddle the branch, laying flat to gain balance for the moment. Crawling over to the trunk of the tree, Winry crawled up a few more limbs until reaching a very large one that grew over the house. Hanging onto the branch with just her hands, she used them to move herself over until she was finally able to drop gently onto the rooftop. She walked over to the front of the house facing the sunset and sat down on the roof to enjoy the scenery.

"You just don't do anything the easy way, do you?" came a voice from below, causing the girl to jump slightly.

Scooting down to the edge, Winry looked down to see Second Lieutenant Havoc smoking a cigarette on the second story balcony. Smiling at his sarcasm, the girl shook her head, "Why should I? What would I gain from doing everything the easy and most convenient way?"

Nodding his head at her answer, Havoc took a drag from his cigarette, "That's very true. Sometimes I wonder how you're still a teenager…"

Winry blushed at the comment and swung her legs over the side, letting them move back and forth gently, "I guess I've had to grow up fast these last few years."

Neither person said anything for the next several minutes; each enjoying the scene before them.

"I'm so used to the city," Havoc finally said softly after more silence, "that it always fascinates me to see something like this." He looked up to see the sun shining through the girl's now dry hair, the wind letting pieces escape and flow in the small breezes. He smiled as he realized the girl was lost in her own thoughts; her hand reaching up to stroke the small pendant that hung around her neck.

"You're not the only one who has grown up fast, you know…" Jean said louder, bringing the girl from her thoughts. "When Edward joined as a State Alchemist, we all thought he was nothing more than a 12 year old brat who thought he knew everything," he said, taking another drag of his cigarette, "And now, at 16, he _still_ is a brat who thinks he knows everything." The comment caused the teenager to smile slightly in acknowledgment.

"But, when you look at him, you can tell he's grown up too. He fights for what he believes in, and for the people he loves," Havoc continued, looking back out to the sunset.

"Yeah, he does…" replied the girl quietly.

Silence surrounded the area once again for a few moments, until it was interrupted by Pinako yelling throughout the house that dinner was finally ready. Winry placed her hands on the edge of the rooftop preparing to jump down, when she noticed Jean flick his cigarette away and reach his hands up to help her down. Blushing, she let him help her down and stood next to him for a moment.

"He will come back for you, you know," the older man said as he looked down to Winry.

"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about," the girl said as she turned away to open the balcony door.

"I saw it on your necklace today when I was checking it over for damage. If I know him like I think I do, I know he will come back for you."

Winry paused at the door and looked down at the knob, "Yeah, I know him too. I just hope we're right." The girl turned around and jumped into Havoc's arms to give him a big hug, "Thanks, Jean. It really helps to know someone else thinks the same thing." Hesitant at first, the soldier finally relaxed and hugged the girl back.

"You're welcome, Winry."

* * *

The two comrades released each other from their hug and exited the balcony to enjoy dinner with Fury and Pinako. Winry heard the phone ring as she walked down the stairs and heard her grandmother speaking to someone.

"Yes, of course, Lieutenant. I understand. I'll leave on the first train in the morning. You say Armstrong will be there waiting? Well, okay, fine. I'll see you in a day or so…"

Winry walked up to her grandmother, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Pinako slowly hung up the phone on its hook and looked at the worried girl. "It seems Edward and Alphonse are both injured from a fight in Central. Lieutenant Hawkeye didn't go into details at the moment, though I'm sure she will later, but says that Edward's arm isn't working, and he needs it to be fixed, so he can put Al back together." She heard Winry gasp and clasp her hand over her mouth. Looking up, Pinako could see as the girl's other hand instinctively went to the necklace, "It's not a severe as it sounds, but they are unable to travel here, so it is required of me to go there. I'll pack after we eat, and leave in the morning."

"Grams, I think I'm ready to go back to Central as well. My arm's better, so I believe I can start my missions again," voiced Winry after a moment of stunned silence from everyone. "I need to stock up on automail parts anyway, and I can show you where all the shops are at in case you'd like to look around."

The elder woman eyed the girl suspiciously, "I thought you didn't want to be anywhere around him for awhile, child?"

Winry lowered her head and tried to hide her face, "I'm not. I'm going to restock and head directly to Colonel Mustang for my next assignment. I made a promise to myself and I'm not going to break it," she finally said after being silent.

Pinako still stared at the girl for a few moments, before finally smiling and placing her hand on Winry's shoulder, causing her to lift her head, "Well, I guess we all better eat and get a good night's rest for tomorrow's trip then!"

Smiling at her grandmother, Winry nodded, then took her seat at the table and dished out food for everyone before digging into her own.

"Well, I guess I'll call the Colonel after we finish, to let him know that we'll be on our way tomorrow too. That should give him enough time to set you up with another assignment," Havoc said as he began to eat the piece of chicken in front of him. Winry nodded at this information, and turned to her grandmother, "I'm going to up in the workshop for a little while tonight, so don't stay up for me."

"Why dear? You don't have any more adjustments to make to your arm or leg…" Pinako responded.

"I know, I've just have something to take care of, that's all…"


	18. Chapter 18

Yay, I'm over the big 5-0 mark for reviews! This calls for a celebration (does happy dance)!

* * *

Chapter Eighteen 

"Welcome back, Thunder-Blade Alchemist, you look much better than the last time I saw you," Colonel Mustang stated as the young alchemist saluted him. "It's strange, but the timing of your arrival seems coincidental, since the Elric brothers were just admitted recently with wounds from a battle in town. Are you sure this has nothing to do with them?"

Winry blushed at his question, knowing good and well it was slightly more than a coincidence, "Well, sir, I felt it necessary to escort my elderly grandmother from our residence here, and believe I am well enough to return to duty at the same time. You may consult with both Second Lieutenant Havoc and Sergeant Fury for any information on my recent sparring matches with them to judge for yourself if I am ready enough to return to duty."

Mustang smiled at the girl's demeanor, "You know, Winry, I know many superior officers who would like it when you report to them, but we can drop the formality here. It doesn't suit me much." He laughed as he saw the girl visibly exhale and release from her rigid standing position. "And as for your recent matches with Havoc and Fury, I just needed to see their cuts and bruises to know you're doing fine again."

Winry grinned at his comment. "But, Winry, I am unhappy to say I do not have any assignments for you for another day or so. Most of Central is busy clearing up the mess at the Fifth laboratory, so the mission descriptions have been taking longer to reach me."

The girl frowned slightly at his news, "What happened at the Fifth laboratory? Is that what Edward and Alphonse were involved in?"

"Correct. To make a long story short, someone has been doing research on the Philosopher's Stone there and had been using convicts from a nearby prison as human sacrifices to help make the stone. From what Lieutenant Ross has reported, the perpetrators were planning on using Edward's alchemy to make the stone." He saw the girl trying to mask her emotions, "Not to worry, though. He's being taken care of and, since your grandmother is here, can also have his automail fixed. Alphonse is beaten up pretty bad, but is staying in Edward's room until he can be fixed."

The teen stayed silent before responding to the new information, "Um, Colonel…What am I supposed to do until my next assignment?"

"That will be up to you, Winry. I should know what missions I have to assign by tomorrow afternoon. Check with me then, and I'll be able to tell you more at that time."

Winry nodded and saluted before leaving the room. As she reached the door, she turned around to face the Colonel again. "Colonel Mustang?" She saw him lift his head from his paperwork and look back to her again, "If you don't mind, I'd like to start doing my own research on the Philosopher's Stone. Maybe I can find something the boys can't." The teenager watched as his eyes softened slightly, and finally nodded his head in agreement. Bowing in thanks, she quickly exited the room before he could change his mind.

Lieutenant Hawkeye turned from her position by his desk and faced her superior officer, "Do you think its wise, Colonel, to let another child become involved with the Philosopher's Stone?"

Leaning back in his chair, Roy sighed to himself, "Not really, but she's like Ed. She'll do it whether I let her or not. I'm just glad I know about it beforehand." Hawkeye smiled slightly at his comment and nodded her head, "Yes, sir."

* * *

"These quarters aren't too shabby," Pinako spoke as she looked around Winry's room, "The closet's big enough and you even have your own bathroom!" 

Winry smiled as she watched her grandmother wander around the room, "Yeah, they weren't expecting to accommodate a female alchemist anytime soon, so I guess they gave me one of the old officer's quarters until they figure out where to put me."

The older woman nodded as she looked out the window into the courtyard to see the afternoon sun, "So Mustang doesn't have anything for you until at least tomorrow? Well that could make things interesting, seeing that I'm going to fix Edward sometime tonight…"

"Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do," Winry stated as she pulled out her parent's photo for the night to place it on her nightstand.

"Well, when we were walking from the train station to the cab, I saw a sign for a festival that's being held tonight in the downtown area. Maybe you should go to it and enjoy yourself for a little while."

"Hmm…That sounds like a good idea. Big crowds are always easier to blend into. I should see if William is doing anything tonight," Winry thought aloud.

"Who's William?"

Blushing slightly, Winry explained, "Well, he's a soldier in another section that I'm friends with. Edward doesn't seem to like him though."

A knock at the door caught the attention of the two women, and Winry's eyes grew big at the possibility of it being Edward. Silently she crept up to the door and looked through the small peephole, and visibly calmed. She opened the door and laughed to her grandmother, "This, Grams, is a William," she said as she greeted her friend. He saluted the girl to make her laugh, then handed her some flowers he had brought with him, "Hello, Winry. How are you? I just heard you got back today and I wanted to come check on you."

Winry smiled as she saw the flowers he brought, "Oh, I'm fine. You don't think something like that can get rid of me that easily, do you?"

Pinako saw the younger man sigh, and then smile in relief, "I'm glad. I was worried for a while there, when they said you had to go back home to get your arm fixed. I figured it had to be pretty bad," William looked over and finally saw Pinako standing by the window. "I'm sorry, Winry. I didn't know you had company. Did I come at a bad time?"

"Nah, don't worry. William, meet my grandmother Pinako. Grams, this is William Chadwick," Winry said, introducing the two people. William came up and shook Pinako's hand, much to her surprise, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hey, William, Grams and I were just talking, and we just found out there is a festival tonight. Do you want to go with me? The young man laughed as he smiled at her, "That's funny! I was just coming to ask you if you would join me tonight…"

"Well, I guess it's settled then. Meet me here around eight-thirty?" Winry asked the soldier, who nodded, then bid his farewell to both of the women and walked out through the door.

Pinako looked to the open door, walked over to shut it, then walked back down to sit on the bed, "Edward is right. I don't like him either."

"What is it with you two? He was nothing else but polite, and you still don't like him? What gives?" Winry sighed as she sat next to her grandmother.

"Child. Colonel Mustang is supposed to be the only one who knows when you come and go. Both Cain and Jean were sworn to be silent, so Edward and Alphonse would not realize you were here. How would a regular soldier know when you arrived, and that you went to Rizenbul to have your arm fixed? It just seems slightly odd to me, that's all."

"Yeah, that does seem odd. I'll have to find out later how he knows. Maybe someone is leaking information," Winry thought out loud, "But at least it will get me out of here so Edward doesn't find me."

Winry stood up and stretched, then clapped her hands in front of her, "Well, Grams, it's not even two in the afternoon yet! Would you like to go shopping over in the automail stores? I bet they've finally got all the latest accessories that used to be only offered by Rush Valley!"

The older woman smiled and nodded, causing the girl to continue talking, "Good, we can also stop by Major Hughes's house as well! I haven't seen him or his family in what seems like forever. Then that will give us enough time to shop and get back so I can get ready, and you can start work on Edward."

* * *

Pinako was pleasantly surprised at the selection Central had in the automail industry. The shops in Rizenbul carried essentials to build limbs, but had nowhere near the amount of extras and accessories these shops offered. The two females stocked up on supplies for the house in Rizenbul, then took a cab to a small house on the other side of town, and gave the driver directions on where to deliver the packages at headquarters. Winry closed the gate behind them and slowly walked up to the house with Pinako, happy to be able to visit again. Elysia must be so big by now!

Winry knocked on the door only to be met with silence. She was about to knock again when the door flew open and a small bundle jumped out at both of the women. She caught the bundle as she fell backwards, only to discover it was Elysia, thinking they were her father. Gracia came running from inside the house and laughed as she saw her daughter realize it wasn't her father, causing her to blush.

"Winry! It's been so long dear! Here, let me help you there," Gracia laughed as she picked her daughter up to let Winry stand up, "Now, Elysia, why would you think that was daddy? You know he doesn't knock like that! You've been doing that all day for some reason." She looked back and laughed to the teenager, "You should have seen the look on the mailman's face when she did the same thing earlier!"

Looking down, Gracia finally noticed an older woman accompanying the teen, "Oh, I'm sorry! Pardon my rudeness!" She apologized as she put her daughter down, telling her to go inside and play, then extending a hand to shake Pinako's, "Forgive my manners, I'm Gracia Hughes, and you are?"

Pinako smiled as she remembered Winry being that hyper when she was smaller, "I'm Pinako Rockbell, Winry's grandmother, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Gracia nodded, "Please, come in. Maes should be home any minute now. Would you like to stay for dinner? I can fix some extra, it wouldn't be any trouble." At first the two women resisted, saying it would be too much work, but finally agreed after Gracia assured them it wouldn't be a problem, and that she insisted they stay.

"Maes will be so excited to see we've got company," the wife stated as she cooked more meat for the stew she had simmering on the stove. "He loves hearing about what's going on, I guess it's a curse he's got for being in that information field of the military."

Elysia came up to Winry a moment later with extra crayons and paper in her hand, "Winry, would you come draw with me?"

Winry smiled at the small girl and agreed, following her to another room to let the two older women chat with each other. She sat on the floor with a piece of paper in front of her, while the toddler laid down and spread the crayons out, "You can use what_ever_ color you want!" she exclaimed, as she grabbed a blue one and began coloring grass on her paper. Winry giggled slightly and pulled out a few and began doodling.

Pinako watched as the two young girls interacted, "You know, your daughter reminds me of Winry when she was younger. She's so carefree and not afraid of anything or anyone."

Gracia nodded and smiled at the comment, "She's just like her father in that aspect."

"Is someone talking about my sweet Elysia again?" came a voice from the front area of the house.

"DADDY!" Elysia screeched as she tossed the crayons aside and threw herself into her father's arms.

"Hey, pumpkin," Maes said as he ruffled the girl's hair, "has Elysia been good to mommy today?"

"Uh-huh, and Winry has been coloring with me too!" Elysia exclaimed as she pointed to the living room, to where Winry now stood and saluted to him out of respect.

"At ease soldier," the father joked, causing Winry to smile, "There's no need for that here."

"Sorry, Mr. Hughes," Winry said as she walked into the kitchen where everyone else sat, "It's kind of a habit now. Colonel Mustang said the same thing to me earlier today."

"He did, did he? Good of him to do so. I'd have to have a word with him if he didn't otherwise. And don't worry; just call me Maes. You make me feel old when you call me 'Mr. Hughes'," he joked, causing Winry and the other adults to laugh.

"Oh, I forgot! Mr. Hugh—Maes, this is my grandmother. She's visiting Central so she can—"

"Fix Edward's arm, I know. I saw him when they brought him in last night. That kid just doesn't know when to stop, does he?"

Winry lowered her eyes and smiled slightly, "Yeah, he doesn't know when to stop."

"But," piped Pinako as she pat the girl's shoulder, "That's why he has us to fix him every time. I have hope that someday he'll learn, and when that day come I'll be sad because I would have lost my best-paying customer," she joked, causing the room to laugh again.

"Dinner's ready!" Gracia announced finally, and everyone took his or her place at the table. There was much talking and laughter at the table, and Winry was glad she and Pinako stopped by; she had forgotten how much fun this family could be.

"That reminds me, Winry!" Maes said as he leaned back in his chair after eating, "Elysia's birthday is in a few days. We're having a big party, so you and your grandmother should come."

"Thank you for the invitation," Pinako said, "But as soon as I'm finished on Edward I'm heading back to the country. This city life is a little too much for these old bones."

"That's sad to hear, because it would be wonderful if you could come," Gracia said disappointed. "But, Winry, you should be here, right?"

"Um, I don't know. Colonel Mustang said he would get some idea of was assignments he could give out by tomorrow," the teenager replied.

"Judging from our work at the Fifth laboratory," interjected Hughes, "I don't think he'll get the assignments by tomorrow. He may be lucky to get them by the end of next week. Central has been having every last person available assessing and cleaning up the mess over there."

"But it's only Friday! You mean I have to avoid those two for almost a whole week?" Winry looked to her grandmother, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Well," replied Gracia, "You're more than welcome to spend as much time as you'd like over here with Elysia and myself. It would be a fun change for a while. You two seem to get along very well."

"Winry is going to spend time with me? Yay!" yelled a happy Elysia from her booster seat. Winry smiled at the child and felt she couldn't say no. "And anyway, Winry," continued Gracia, " the boys haven't come over here in a long time, so you should be relatively safe if you are trying to avoid them."

"Okay, thank you very much you two. You don't know how much I appreciate it."

"You're very welcome, Winry," replied Hughes. "Now, who's up for some tea?"

* * *

The three adults, teenager, and child sat in the living room with their various drinks and chatted about everything imaginable. Winry looked at a clock on the wall after a while and saw it was already six-thirty. "Grams, we're going to have to get back soon. You've got to work on Edward, and I need to get ready for the festival."

"Oh, you're going to the festival, how wonderful!" Gracia said as she clapped her hands together, "Those festivals are always a good way to relax and have fun. Maes and I used to go to them all the time when we were younger."

Finishing her tea, Pinako frowned at the teenager, "I still don't like who you're going with."

"Who might that be?" asked Hughes.

Winry rolled her eyes at her grandmother, "He's a soldier from another section whom I met shortly after I became a State Alchemist. His name's William Chadwick, and he's a very nice—"

"But he knows a lot of things he shouldn't," interrupted Pinako, "He knew about when Winry was injured in Heissgart, that she came back to Rizenbul, and he just came by today to welcome her back. We were under the assumption that Mustang wouldn't disclose any of that information because of Edward and Alphonse, but somehow this young man knows a lot he shouldn't…"

"Hmm…William Chadwick. The name doesn't ring a bell, but I can look into it when I go in tomorrow," Hughes said, seeing his wife become upset next to him. "I'm sorry, Gracia, they want me to come in because of the investigation. I don't have a choice in the matter!"

Winry stood up and thanked the couple for the tea, "Well, don't worry about it too much. Don't take any extra time that is needed for the investigation, I'm sure it's not a big deal how he knows."

The teenager heard her grandmother disagree behind her, but decided to ignore her. The couple walked them to the door, and Winry kneeled down to hug the small child. She could see tears forming in the child's eyes, "Winry, are you going to come back?" Ruffling her hair slightly, Winry pulled the girl in for a big hug, "Of course Elysia. I said I would, didn't I?" The child pulled back and gave her a piece of paper with lots of color on it. It had two blond girls, one taller than the other, holding hands on a field of blue grass. The taller girl had a silver arm and leg. Winry looked up to see the young child smiling, "It's us Winry. We'll play a lot next time!"

"Yeah," replied the teen, "We'll play a lot when I come back." She placed a kiss on the girl's forehead and watched her wave and run behind her mother's dress. Gracia bid them goodnight and walked back in to give her daughter a bath and put her to sleep.

"She's really cute, Hughes," Pinako said as she watched the mother and daughter go into the house. He turned his head to watch them as well, "Yeah, she's daddy's little angel. I just noticed how much alike you two look, Winry. You could pass as sisters!"

Winry laughed at the comment and nodded her head. "Well, I guess we'll be on our way. I'll see you three soon, okay?"

Hughes nodded and crossed him arms, "Until I find out more on this Chadwick guy, don't go anywhere where there's not a lot of people, okay? "

Winry sighed as she finally gave up fighting the adults over the situation. "Okay, I won't."

Hughes smiled and waved as the two women walked to the waiting taxi. Winry turned her head around when he heard Hughes shout, "And don't forget my baby's birthday is in a few days! It's going to be a good party!" She waved as her and Pinako got into the taxi to go back to headquarters.

"They are good people. I'm glad you know them." Pinako stated after a while of relative silence.

"Hmm? Yeah," Winry smiled, "They're good people."

"Isn't Edward's birthday coming up in a few days as well?" asked Pinako.

Winry's eyes opened wide, and she hit her forehead for forgetting, "Yeah, I forgot it's on the same day as Elysia's. Grams? I have something for you to give to Edward tonight if you would. It's in my room, so we'll have to get it before you go over there. Would you give it to him for me?"

The older woman nodded, causing the teenager to smile slightly. She nodded her thanks, and then enjoyed the peaceful ride back to the headquarters.


	19. Chapter 19

I guess I'm being nice this weekend? Maybe it's because I've got two more chapters until anything remotely action-like happens? Heck, I might even post another one today (I like being nice; should do it more often…just kidding). I would like to thank Indome for pointing out the whole Glacier/Grace thing. With all of the subbed versions I've seen it would vary between the two names, and it totally skipped my mind when I had my US episodes playing in the background (I usually have something on when I do my homework at night).

Actually…(goes off to check fast)

_20 minutes pass_…sorry, I'm back…Stupid addicting show. I watched the episode where Elysia is born (So cute!), and Hughes's wife's name is _Gracia_ (facepalm).

But I went ahead and changed them in the last chapter as well as throughout the rest of the story. I simply adore the Hughes family and couldn't help myself to include them in this story!

* * *

Chapter Nineteen 

Winry came back to her room that night exhausted, but happy. William took her around town and the streets filled with people to see the fireworks display and the parade wind its way downtown. They never had anything like this in Rizenbul! They bought snacks at a booth for dinner, and sat on the far side of the sidewalk, watching the many floats pass them by as people scrambled to get beads and candy that were thrown. Winry laughed as she saw the many costumes people had the nerve to wear and walk around town in. By the time she got back to her room, and hugged her friend goodnight, she realized she never got around to asking him how he knew her classified information. She flopped on her bed and kicked her boots off, stretching out as far as she could on her small bed.

"You had fun I assume?" came a voice in the dark, making the girl screech. The light on her desk turned on to reveal it was her grandmother lying on a cot.

"Don't do that! You scared me half to death!" laughed the teenager, as she sat up to face the older woman. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make so much noise! I totally forgot that you were staying here tonight."

The grandmother waved her hand slightly as she smiled, "Don't worry, I'm usually a night owl anyway. Was I right though? Did you have fun?"

Winry nodded and went into explanation and added every detail she could remember. Pinako chuckled at the thought of costumes and parades, but finally became serious after a few minutes. "Did you ever get to ask him? About how he knows?"

The girl's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she realized she had forgotten. The telltale sign cause the old woman to sigh to herself, "I kind of figured you'd forget."

"I'm sorry, Grams! I was having so much fun that it just slipped my mind! I swear I'll ask him the next time I see him." She saw her grandmother not being convinced and decided to drop the subject. "So, how is Edward doing? Is his arm okay now? Did you remember to give him the envelope?"

"Calm down, child. Only one question at a time for this old woman."

* * *

Edward stared silently at the nearby wall, as he lay in his bed waiting for Pinako to arrive. Time passed slowly as he watched the shadows of the setting sun reach over the buildings and flood the room. He hated being in one place like this; hated that he wasn't allowed to move around a lot. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he heard a knock at the door, and turned his head to see the short woman walk in. She had Sergeant Fury bring her bag inside and lay it on a nearby table that could be moved closer to the bed if needed. 

"It took you long enough, Pinako," Edward joked as he smiled at the family friend. She turned to face him and tweaked his nose, "You're lucky I came at all, Edward. The nerve of having an old woman travel all over the country to come fix a brat who doesn't know any better…"

"Ow, that hurt. I'm not a brat anymore," he said sarcastically as he slowly sat up in bed. His right arm hung limply at his side, and no matter what he tried, it wouldn't move an inch. Pinako looked over to see what was left of Al piled up in the corner, keeping quiet. "You okay, Al? You've seen better days, you know…"

The armor lifted his head and looked at the two, "Yeah, I guess."

"Okay, so tell me what happened. I need to know everything, so I can figure out what went wrong with your arm," Pinako said as she sat back in a chair and lit her pipe. Edward went into explanation about what happened at the Fifth laboratory, down to every last detail. He explained that his arm felt funny during his fight with the criminals that had their souls transmutated into armor, similar to what he did with Al. The older brother lifted his shirt slightly to show the old woman yet another stab wound he received and had been stitched. He decided not to go into detail about how the homunculus tried to force him to make the Philosopher's Stone, and the older woman decided not to pry into the sore subject. As he talked, Pinako lifted his arm, and moved the components around, listening closely to see if anything didn't sound right. Taking the main covers off of the metal arm, she poked and prodded with her screwdriver.

In a matter of minutes, the old woman had the arm fixed as good as new. Edward stretched it out, opening and closing his hand to test it out, "Thanks, Auntie. You're the greatest."

"Tell me something I didn't know," she smiled as she put away her tools. Edward slowly lifted himself from bed and walked over to where Al sat on the floor, "Sorry it took so long, Al. Let me fix you…" He clapped his hands together and placed them on part of the remaining armor, and watched as the broken and shattered pieces began to mend themselves back into a whole piece. The younger brother stood with his metal body and tested his limbs.

"Thanks again, Pinako," Edward said as he stood up and walked slowly over to the window.

"You're very welcome, Edward," she yawned out as she stretched. "These bones are not as young as they used to be, so I am off to my room so I can get some decent sleep for the train ride back to Rizenbul tomorrow." Ruffling though her bag, Pinako pulled out an envelope and walked over to the teen to place it in his hands.

"Here," she said as she patted his shoulder slightly, "You're birthday is in a few days, and I want to wish you a happy one. This is not from me though." Edward turned the envelope over in his hands and looked questioningly over to Pinako. Realization hit him and he smiled slightly at the older woman, "So, how is she doing anyway?"

A small laugh erupted from Pinako's mouth as she didn't think he'd catch on that quickly, "She's doing fine, Edward. Her arm is better, and she is back to her old self."

He nodded his head slightly as the old woman went back to her bag to close it. "Well, Edward. Alphonse. I'm off to bed. Now you two don't get yourselves into so much trouble. I won't be able to rush out here every time you lose a screw…"

Both teens nodded their heads and saw the older woman smile. She went and knocked on the door, alerting Sergeant Fury that she was ready to leave. He quietly walked into the room and picked up Pinako's bag, not making eye contact with either of the brothers. As he was about to exit the room, he stopped when he heard Alphonse speak.

"Sergeant Fury, those are some nasty bruises you have…What happened?"

He looked down to see that, indeed, the bruise from where Winry grabbed him in their sparring match peeked out from underneath his sleeve. It had begun to heal and was turning from its former dark bluish hue to a sickly green color. Fury stood up straight with Pinako's bag and winced from the weight.

"Um, well, you know how military training is! It can be a real killer sometime…"  
Edward and Alphonse stared at the nervous soldier as he retreated though the door and down the hall. Pinako looked at the door and shook her head slightly, "Well, you boys get some rest, and give me a call once in awhile to let me know you're still alive, ok?" Both boys nodded their heads again at the old woman as she turned and exited the room.

* * *

"So it wasn't as bad as it sounded?" 

"No, child," Pinako stated as she yawned, "it just seemed he had lost a few bolts and screws, and we both know that it's all it can take sometimes to render an automail limb useless." Winry nodded at her statement and yawned herself. Looking around, she saw the cot that her grandmother was laying on didn't appear to be too comfortable. "Grams, why don't you take my bed tonight. I'll take the cot. You have a long trip to sit through tomorrow."

She saw the older woman wave her hand at her in disagreement, "Don't worry about me, Winry. You will have much more to put up with than I in a few days. Get all the rest you can," she yawned again as she lay back down on her cot and turned off the nearby lamp. Winry smiled at her grandmother's stubbornness, and took her boots off, so she could lie in bed. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she spoke quietly to the darkness.

"I asked the Colonel today if I could be allowed to do my own research on the Philosopher's Stone. I told him I might be able to find something out that the boys haven't yet…And he told me I could…"

"Are you sure you're up to doing something of this magnitude on your own? Edward said something about human sacrifice being needed to make the stone."

"That's why I want to try and help. Maybe I can find some way to get around that."

Winry heard her grandmother roll over on the squeaky cot. "Is it more of a hope?" she heard the old woman utter quietly.

Pinako heard the teenager laugh slightly to herself, "Yeah, I guess that's what you could also call it."

"Winry, I have always supported you in any goal you set for yourself. There are those that I would rather you had _not_ been involved in, but you are old enough to make decisions in your own life. And I know there's also another underlying reason on why you want to research this stone so badly. Just promise me you'll at least try to stay alive."

Expecting the teen to laugh at her small joke, Pinako was surprised when she was met with silence. Then a small voice broke though, "Thank you Grams. I'll try."

"Enough worrying now, child. Get some sleep."

Silence surrounded the room for a few minutes; the moonlight played small shadows on the wall from the passing clouds. Pinako was just on the verge of sleep when a quiet voice spoke.

"Grams? I had a thought tonight when I was at the festival…"

"And what might that be, child."  
"I was thinking…If I do this research, I very well may be in the same town as Edward on any given day, since we both will be doing research and missions for the military. I still do not want him to see me, so I was thinking of changing the way I look so I could blend into the crowd more. At a distance maybe look like someone he doesn't know; like a complete stranger."

Winry didn't know if the silence in the room was from her grandmother thinking over her statement or if she had perhaps fallen asleep while she was talking. She was about to call out her grandmother's name again when she heard the quiet response.

"No matter what you do to your outward appearance, you will always risk the chance of him realizing you are there. That is one of the chances you will have to take if you are to find an alternate method to making this Philosopher's Stone. It may help, but you have to understand that he may become suspicious if he finds out another is doing the same research as he."

"Yeah," whispered Winry, "and with him being as stubborn as he is, he'll stop at nothing to find out who it is. Hmmmm…"

"But if you want my opinion," Pinako said half-asleep, "I think it's a wonderful idea…"

The girl smiled as she heard her grandmother finally fall asleep. Soon, she thought, she'll make a trip back to the Hughes's house and talk to Gracia about it. She should be able to help.

* * *

Edward and Alphonse watched as the older woman and sergeant walked out of the room and shut the door behind them. 

"What was that all about, brother? He's never been that nervous around us before, even when he found out I was empty inside…" Al said quietly, stretching out his arms and continuing to check them out.

Ed looked from the door to the envelope, with the words _Happy Birthday_ written on the front of the envelope within his hands. He opened it to find a small note with an even smaller envelope enclosed within it. Unfolding the note, Edward read though the few words written:

_I've made a little something that will connect us no matter where we are. Stay safe._

Edward smiled again as he recognized Winry's handwriting. He opened the smaller envelope and almost gasped when a small pendant and necklace fell into his hands. Fear tore through him as he realized it was exactly like the one he had left for her before departing Rizenbul. But, she wasn't giving it back to him, was she? Did she not believe what he said in his note? Did she even care?

He turned the pendant over in his hands to look at the back, and read the words that were inscribed into the snake.

_I'll be waiting…_

Edward read the words over and over in his head. They were not the ones he had inscribed on the necklace he had given her. He snatched the note he already read, and reread it to make sure he understood it.

"Brother, are you okay? What's wrong?" Al asked as he walked up to the bed. Edward held the pendant and necklace in one hand, and the note in his other. He read the words on the back of the pendant yet again, and a small smile crept to his face.

"Yeah, Al…I'm fine now," Edward laughed slightly as he realized his first assumption was totally wrong. Getting up from the bed, he walked over to the window and stared into the nighttime sky. Fumbling the first few times, Edward was finally able to clasp the necklace around his neck, and looked down at the shining pendant.

_I just hope I don't have to make you wait too long, Winry_, Edward thought to himself as he watched the night pass by.


	20. Chapter 20

See my first ever footnote below after reading this chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Twenty 

"Thanks for doing this for me, Gracia. It means so much to me, and it looks great!" Winry giggled as she looked in the mirror. She placed the mirror down on the table and shook her head slightly, feeling the massive difference in the weight of her hair. Picking up a nearby broom, she began sweeping her once long locks into the dustpan she held.

Gracia smiled as she washed her hands and pulled out some vegetables to cut for dinner, "I'm glad you like it. I thought I went too short at first, but it really does look good on you."

Winry stood up and walked over to dump the hair into the trashcan. "Yeah, Maes was shocked when he walked by on his way out the door. The look on his face was priceless! It's still not fair though, that he had to go in today. It's Saturday, and it's been almost two weeks since the Fifth Laboratory incident."

"Well," sighed the mother as she wiped her hand on a dishtowel, "apparently the Fuhrer himself let Maes continue his research into a possible corruption in the military; something that to do with military personnel attempting to make their own Philosopher's Stone. That and Maes said he was finally going to set aside some time to research that one soldier friend of yours. He felt bad for not doing it last week."

Winry sighed as she sat down on a nearby stool, "I've told him not to worry about it. I'm sure he could be doing a number of things more important than that…"

"But he thinks it is, so there won't be any stopping him," Gracia said, slightly chuckling to herself, "he can be so stubborn at times."

Winry stood up again and dragged the trashcan over to where she sat on the stool. Reaching over, Winry pulled a big pile of flowers toward her, "And thank you for letting me use so many of your flowers here. This amount will be plenty for what I'm going to do."

"You're welcome. I'd rather let you use them than be trampled by a four year old's feet," she laughed as she pulled something from out of the fridge.

Winry laughed along with the older woman and began to pluck the petals from each red flower, throwing away the stem once she had stripped them clean. Time passed quietly as each female was engrossed in her tasks.

The teenager was brought out of her trance when she felt a small tug at her jeans. Looking down, she saw Elysia rubbing her tired eyes. Winry reached down and picked up the young child and set her on her lap.

"Finished with your nap, Elysia? We didn't wake you, did we?" The child shook her head and finished rubbing her eyes.

"Winry, where did your hair go?" Elysia asked, noticing the change for the first time. She reached up and touched the spiky locks.

"I just needed a change…That's all…So, what do you think?" Elysia pulled her hand back and tilted her head to get a better look at the new hairstyle. A smile quickly erupted and she nodded as she spoke, "I like it!"

"Well, I'm glad I have your approval," Winry joked as Elysia squirmed, signaling to the teenager to let her down. She ran to her mother and hugged her leg.

"Momma, where's Daddy?" Gracia smiled slightly, picked up her daughter, and balanced her on her hip as she continued to stir the contents in the pot, "He'll be home later honey, he had to go in and work today." The child pouted and crossed her arms, "He always has work to do…"

* * *

Winry finished removing all the petals from the red flowers and dumped the rest of the stems into the trashcan. Then, getting up from her position, she moved it back into its original spot. 

"Where do you keep your bowls?" she asked Gracia, and was directed over to a nearby cabinet, "There's also a cutting board in the drawer underneath if you need it for any reason." Winry nodded and retrieved the items and returned to her place at the counter. She placed the petals into the bowl, then reached over into her shopping bag and removed a smaller bowl and a stone.

"There's a great store downtown that I may start shopping at regularly," Winry told the mother, "Before I came here I was browsing through this store and found these in the back corner. That's actually where I got this whole idea."

"Forgive me for asking, dear, but what exactly _are_ you doing?" inquired Gracia, setting down her daughter to check on the chicken that was baking in the oven. Elysia bounded up to the counter and eyed the items, then became bored and skipped off to play in the family room.

"You'll see, Gracia," Winry responded as she placed some flower petals into the small bowl. She took the stone and began to smash and crush the petals together, eventually making a fine red powder. "I'll show you right after I model my new clothes!"

Gracia sat down for a moment on a stool next to Winry, and watched while the girl continued to add more petals to the crushed mixture. "I think I have a vague idea as to what you're going to do, and I hope it works to help hide you from Edward. He would have a heart attack if he sees what you're doing…"

The teenager stopped grinding the petals momentarily before resuming, "Yeah…I hope he doesn't notice me either…"

Winry felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Gracia smiling at her, before going around the counter to place of pot of water on the stove, "Don't worry, Winry. Everything will work out fine. By the way, didn't he and Alphonse leave recently? I didn't know he was healed enough to leave already…"

"Yeah, they left a day or so ago to head to Dublith. Mustang said something about them going to find our sensei."

"I didn't know you two trained with each other…"

Winry laughed at the thought, "No, we didn't. After Edward had become a state alchemist, and after I got automail, I began studying alchemy. I remember him talking about his sensei, so I convinced Grams to let me go and search for her. I told her from the beginning that I was going to be a state alchemist, and at first she refused to teach me, saying she would teach no one to be a 'dog of the military', but I eventually convinced her." Winry cringed slightly, "I don't even want to think of what she will do to Edward when she finds out that not only is he a state alchemist, but he and Alphonse also tried a human transmutation."

"She seems like she can be a little tough," Gracia point out, "How did you put up with her?"

"Tough? That's such an understatement," she laughed as she added more petals to the powder, "But I was determined. Anyway, I have a feeling the boys aren't going to Dublith like they say. It just wouldn't make any sense. It just makes me wonder where they _are_ going."

* * *

The phone suddenly rang and interrupted the women's conversation. Gracia wiped her hands on her apron, and then walked over to answer the phone. 

"Hello? Oh, hi dear. What? Why yes she's still here…why, what's wrong? Okay, hold on so I can get her," Gracia looked to the younger girl and motioned for her to come to the phone, "Maes would like to speak with you for a moment." Winry could see worry evident in her eyes, and the wife handed the phone to her when she walked over.

"Hello, this is Winry…"

"Winry, this is Maes. I can't be on here long; I have somewhere to go soon. I wanted to let you know about your soldier friend." His voice sounded more rushed than normal, and Winry could not tell if anything was wrong.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Winry…Stay away from him. He's not who he says he is. There's no way he can be…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Winry asked, looking over to Gracia with her brows furrowed, confused by his response.

"Listen carefully, the name he gave belongs to a soldier who fought in the Ishbal rebellion. This solder died during the conflict, but for some reason, his name was never taken off the lists. It's weird too because there is also another enlisted soldier with the same situation—"

"Wait a second. I'm not really understanding what you're sayin—"

"Winry, this guy is supposed to be dead! Something isn't right, and I'm going to find out what's doing on. I have to visit someone tonight before I can look any further into it, though. The Fuhrer's secretary has arranged a meeting with the crystal alchemist, Dr. Marcoh, so I can ask him some questions. Until then, please don't go anywhere or do anything with this guy. Not until I can solve this problem. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I think I do. Thank you for telling me. It just seems like kind of a far-fetched story, but I trust you."

"Good. Okay, I have to go to this meeting. Don't tell anyone about anything I've told you. But please tell my wife I love her, and will be home shortly, so don't wait on me for dinner."

"Okay, Will do. I hope you find something out from Dr. Marcoh. Be careful."

"I will. Goodbye, Winry…"  
"Bye Maes…"

* * *

"What was that about," Gracia asked as the teenager hung the phone back in its cradle. Winry turned around, and had a strange feeling of sadness wash over her, but shook it away as she walked back to her stool. 

"He basically just told me to stay away from William until he has more of a chance to investigate him. Apparently, Maes thinks the guy I know as William could be imitating a soldier that died in the Ishbal rebellion," Winry picked up her bowl again and began crushing the last of the petals. "Oh yeah, he also said that he loved you and would be home later, so go ahead and start dinner without him."

Gracia sighed at the news and went back to the stove to check on the food, "It figures. He's spent so much time at his office, I sometimes wonder if we should move our furniture there."

Winry chuckled at the woman's joke and put down her stone when she finally finished crushing all of the petals, "Whew. I thought I would never finish that."

The mother smiled as she took the chicken out of the oven to cool off, "Do you know where you're being sent next?"

Winry pushed the bowl containing the red powder into the middle of the counter and walked over to the sink to wash off her stone, "Yeah, Mustang let me know this morning that I'm going to Rush Valley to investigate some guys using alchemy to win gambling contests. Apparently they've been doing it for a few months, and have never been beaten so that's why I'm investigating. At least until I get there, they haven't." She smiled to herself at the thought of busting the two petty criminals. "He basically wants to go easy on me since this will be the first mission I've had since the fight with Scar," Winry clenched her fists slightly and frowned, "Though I'd like another whack at him too…"

Gracia saw the reaction when Scar was mentioned, and thought better if she didn't pry. "Well, don't keep me in suspense, Winry! Show me what you have!"

Winry pulled the clothes she bought from the downtown area and spread them out on the table. Gracia was surprised to find that, mixed in with her street clothes, was a military uniform, "I thought the Colonel said you could wear regular clothes?"

"Yeah he did, but he had this specially made in case I needed it. He mainly is sending me in appearing as a teenager, because most criminals would run at the sight of a state alchemist, which is also why I have these…" Winry pulled out a pair of gun holsters that could be worn on her back for easy access to the weapons.

"But you're an alchemist! Why would they give a teenage girl _guns_?"

"Easy," Winry walked to the woman and held out both of her hands, "See? On my left hand I've got my transmutation circle etched onto the inside of my finger, and on my right hand," she said, showing a small silver ring on her middle finger, "this ring also has the same circle. I'm not going to use alchemy as much anymore, only in certain situations, but with these circles, I don't have to worry about letting my enemies know what I'm going to do."

Winry grabbed a spoon and positioned it like she would if she held a gun, "All I have to do is touch one of these circles to something metal and I'll be able to do my transmutation normally, without having to move. That's another reason for people to not notice that I'm an alchemist. Not many people outside of Central know or care that a teenage girl is a state alchemist, which helps me in the long run."

The teenager saw the doubt written on the mother's face, "Don't worry. I'll be okay. First Lieutenant Hawkeye has been training me all week in target practice and gun care. How else do you think I was able to avoid Edward? He'd never visit the gun range…She told me that I was a natural!"

Gracia looked apprehensive, but slowly broke into a small smile, "Well, okay. I don't think it's a really good idea, but as long as you and everyone else thinks it will be okay…"

"It will be fine, Gracia. As you said…Everything will be fine, won't it? Or were you just trying to deceive a poor teenage girl?" she joked at the older woman.

"Of course not. Besides, dinner is ready. Elysia!" Mrs. Hughes called to the family room, prompting the four year old to bound into the kitchen, "Would you like to help Winry set the table? Only three people tonight, honey…Don't give me that look, Daddy called and said he would be late, so we are to start without him," she said gently as the child pouted.

* * *

Dinner passed by all too quickly, and Winry insisted on cleaning up the kitchen while Gracia gave Elysia a bath and put her to bed. The teenager just finished cleaning up by the time the mother walked back into the room. The two looked at each other, and sighed at the same time. Looking surprised, they then chuckled to themselves. Gracia fixed some tea for the both of them, and they sat down at the table to discuss other everyday things. Time passed by quickly, and after awhile Gracia looked to the clock to see it was already ten in the evening. Worried about her husband, she stood up and was about to call his office when the phone rang. Both women looked at each other, and the mother answered the phone. Winry watched while her normally calm and cheerful face went blank, then twisted in extreme pain. She cried out as she sank to the ground, her arms hugged close to her body. Winry jumped up and ran to her, not knowing how to comfort her. Gracia grabbed the girl as she kneeled down and hugged her hard, holding on for dear life. She could hear the woman saying Maes's name over and over again, and sobbing harder every time she did. 

It was then that Winry knew what happened…

* * *

Winry stood with Gracia and Elysia as Maes' casket was slowly lowered into the ground. The new widow held onto her daughter's hand, and after Winry finished saluting, grabbed the teen's hand with her other one. The mother was strong, but was not prepared for this tragedy to have happened so soon. Silence surrounded the crowd of people as soldier began to fill the grave with dirt. 

"Momma, why…why are they burying Daddy?" the small child questioned, as she pulled on her mother's sleeve, "Why are those people burying Daddy? Why?"

"Elysia…" Gracia said quietly.

"I don't like this! If they do that, daddy can't work anymore!" she became louder and more insistent, tugging her mother's sleeve harder with each phrase. "Mom, stop them!"

Gracia lost the composure she had, knelt down to hug her child, and wept quietly. Winry wanted to hug the mother, maybe make her feel better a bit, but knew that now was not the right time.

"Daddy always has lots of work to do. Make them stop! Don't bury him, Mom! Daddy! Daddy!" The girl began to cry along with her mother as the grave slowly filled up. Gracia finally regained some stability and lifted her child into her arms, holding her tightly against her. Winry placed her hand on the woman's shoulder, trying to help in any way she could. She could see Gracia turn her head slightly and smile in thanks, though the tears kept running down her face.

People began to leave the gravesite soon after the burial was over. Gracia looked to Winry after a few minutes had passed and nodded, insinuating that it was time to leave. The teenager walked with them back to their car, but noticed the Colonel and First Lieutenant staying behind at the gravesite. Her first instinct was to see if they were okay, but decided against it. They needed their own space, and besides, she didn't want to leave Gracia alone.

The car ride back was quiet, with each person lost in her own thoughts. Winry stared blankly out the window and watched the scenery pass by. Who could have killed Maes? Why? What was he about to uncover? She remembered her last conversation with him, and began to tear up. She willed herself not to cry in front of Gracia and tried again to think of who would want to kill her friend. He had been doing research to see if people in the military were trying to make a Philosopher's Stone. Maybe anyone who tried to get near the Philosopher's Stone, or tried to make one ends up dying. Is that what happened? Did someone not want him to find out? Is his death a warning to not look for any information regarding the stone?

"Winry, are you okay?" came a soft voice from her side. She looked over to see Gracia standing outside the car and looking in at her. Winry was so lost in her thoughts that she had not even realized the car had stopped by the Hughes' house. Blushing slightly, she crawled out into the bright sunshine, and shielded her eyes. The three girls walked into the quiet house; Gracia automatically went to the kitchen to make some tea. Elysia crawled into Winry's lap as the girl sat at the table. Gently stroking the top of the child's head, Winry looked around the house to see reminders of Maes everywhere.

"Gracia? Do you need me to stay here for a few nights? I don't have to leave until Tuesday…"

Gracia came from the kitchen with two cups of tea, and a juice box for her daughter, and set them on the table, "No, Winry. I think we'll be fine for the time being. Though I would appreciate it if you could drop by when you're in town for your reports." She slowly looked around and noticed the same things Winry had just looked at, "This house will be extremely quiet for awhile."

Winry nodded at her comment, while Elysia went off into the living room to color. The two women sat in relative silence, the only sounds coming from the child talking and humming to herself in the next room.

An hour or so had passed, and the sun was beginning to lower from the sky. Winry gathered her stuff and bade goodbye to Elysia, who in returned pouted and ran from the room. Gracia walked Winry to the door and gave her a small hug, "Don't have too much fun without us," she joked.

"Of course I won't, how could I ever think a thing like that?" Both women chuckled for a moment before silence fell over them.

"Um…Gracia?" Winry said quietly, gaining the woman's attention. "I, uh…just want to let you know that I am going to find out who…who did this," the teenager said, trying not to choke up, "to Maes. I'm going to find them, and make them pay for what they've done to you and Elysia." Winry kept her eyes to the ground so the older woman could not see her be so upset. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and smiled slightly, lifting her arms to embrace the mother in a warm hug.

"Thank your for your thoughts, Winry," she whispered into the girl's ear, "But I don't think I could live with myself if something happened to you because of us. Maes…" she paused, "I don't think he would approve of it anyway." Gracia pulled back and Winry could see the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. The teen nodded in understanding and turned to the open door. A hand caught her arm, and she turned around to see the widow again.

"Just don't forget we're here…"

Winry smiled and nodded again, "I won't…"

* * *

**First Ever FootNote!**

Okay, first of all, I want everyone to wipe his or her teary eyes from the sad scene above. It was such a hard scene to write. I actually had to put the last part of it on hold and come back to it a month or so later because coincidentally my grandfather had just passed around that time. Since he was a retired military man, he had somewhat of a similar funeral. You don't know how glad I am that they didn't play Taps or something similar in the episode because I might not have been able to put that part of the chapter in at all.

Either way, I was finally able to finish it and wanted to mention a few things.

First of all…DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE SHE CUT HER HAIR! I know a lot of people get really defensive because a character they love changes dramatically, but hell, by this point you should be used to it because she has automail _and_ is a state alchemist. And it wasn't because I just felt she needed to cut it; there was a really good reason for Winry to have it done. To give you an idea of what it's like, check out a picture of Deunan from Appleseed (a great movie I might add!). It's similar, but cut a bit shorter in order to stay out of her face. I wasn't going to make her have a crew-cut or anything!

As for the whole gun thing…It would be logical that she would spend time with Hawkeye at the gun range; heck, it really _would_ be the last place for Edward and Alphonse to go to, and she can't spend the whole time at the Hughes'. Winry would feel like she was imposing on them. I thought it would bring a new dimension to alchemists if they were able to hide ( _hide_ is maybe the wrong term?) their abilities and use them when they were needed. Either way, I was raised in a gun family and condone the _responsible_ use of these weapons, and thought it would be interesting to try.

But before you email me yelling about her hair or the guns, please read the next chapter. It will kind of make sense then (I guess?)…

Tell me what you think!


	21. Chapter 21

I just realized something…this chapter here will be the fourth one I've uploaded today, and the _seventh_ one I've uploaded this weekend (including Friday's chapter). I guess I'm just trying to make up for the issues from the last chapter.

Either way, please enjoy and review!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

A week and a half had passed since Edward and Alphonse left Central to go find their sensei in Dublith. Both brothers knew that they were actually going nowhere _near_ Dublith, and were definitely not going to look for their alchemy teacher. Edward got wind of a large Ishballan settlement to the north, and wanted to see if anyone there knew the process of making the Philosopher's Stone without using human sacrifices. There had been rumors that it had been done, and he was going to find out. The brothers wandered around the various towns looking for information on either the settlement in the north or on the stone, when they heard of a few criminals in nearby Rush Valley who were exceptionally strong and always beat anyone at arm wrestling matches.

"What do you think, brother?" Alphonse questioned Edward one day after overhearing the conversation about the criminals.

"Well, it may be that they are just using alchemy, or hell they may just be really strong," Edward said, contemplating their next move, "But I guess it's worth a shot. We might be able to find something about the stone or the northern settlement while we're there."

* * *

The train took less than half a day to get to Rush Valley, and when the brothers stepped off the steps they were awed at the magnitude of the city. Tall buildings filled the middle of the city, with shining automail limbs hanging and sitting on every windowsill. Merchants called out to Edward, trying to entice him into buying a newer updated version of the automail he wore. He smiled, but declined the offers, knowing full and well that Winry would kill him if he traded his limbs in for newer ones; which he would never do in the first place anyway. Edward and Alphonse stood by the train entrance and were admiring the city, when Edward felt a body push into his, nearly toppling him over.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled loudly as he caught his balance, causing people to turn their heads in his direction. The girl who had run into him moved quickly and began to walk off, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going! How about an apology?" he yelled over the crowd to her. He saw her raise her hand and waved an apology, though she kept walking without turning around.

"What the hell? I can't believe she would just walk off! C'mon Al, let's go tell her-"

Alphonse placed his hand on Edward's shoulder to prevent him from running off, "Let it go brother. We _were_ standing in the middle of the train's exit…"

"Yeah, but she could have at least said _excuse me_ or _pardon me_, or even _hey you, move!_, but not just walk off like she did."

"Well, she's gone now, brother, so let's just go and find a place to stay, okay?"

Edward growled to himself, and stomped off to find a nearby inn. He was beginning to dislike this place.

* * *

Edward and Alphonse started early the next morning in search of any information regarding the settlement or the Philosopher's Stone. Most of the time they wandered around town, looking at the many limbs for sale, and keeping an ear out for any information that may be valuable to them. They came to a gathering of people around two men and a table during the mid-morning hours, and stopped to see what the commotion was. The two men were challenging any and every person to an automail arm-wrestling match; the winner taking home the cash prize.

The two brothers watched the men challenge, and would see people putting down money left and right to challenge them, but the men just kept winning every match. After one spectacular defeat, Al leaned in and whispered to his brother, "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"  
"Yep. It's definitely alchemy they're using; though nothing like with what you would see with even a fake philosopher's stone," Ed spoke quietly. He turned to his younger brother and began to walk away, "C'mon Al, let's go—"

"Sir! Yes, you in the suit of armor! You look pretty strong, so how about a match?

"Me?" squeaked the younger brother, "No, that's okay. I'll pass."

"Suit yourself, who's next…" the smaller of the two men said, looking around for his next contestant, "How about—nah, never mind, it'd be bad to make this bean boy challenge the champion!"

"DON"T CALL ME A BEAN!" Edward yelled loudly, charging at the man, only to be held back by his brother.

"You're pretty energetic for a bean!"

Edward broke loose from Al's grip and faced the large man sitting at the table. If looks could kill, this man would have been cut into a thousand pieces.

"Then, let's begin," the smaller man announced. Ed gripped the larger man's arm in his and glared at him.

"Ready…Fight!"

Not a moment after the arm-wrestling match began Edward growled and ripped the arm from his opponent. The crowd gasped at the power this young man just used. The crowd was silent for a moment before Ed spoke.

"Sorry, but it looks like the recycling center will have a busy day today," he smirked as he threw the arm behind him into the pile of broken tables from the prior matches. The crowd broke out into cheers, then dispersed after a few minutes. The prize had been won; there was nothing else left to stick around for.

* * *

The day passed by fairly quickly after the wrestling match. People from the streets would come up and congratulate Edward for finally beating the two men, who could never be beaten before today.

"Brother, maybe we are asking the wrong questions about the philosopher's stone…that's why we haven't gotten anywhere today," Alphonse commented to his brother later that afternoon. Edward stretched out on the bench they sat on and nodded his head, "Yeah, maybe you're right. Hmmm…"

"I think I've got one, brother!" Al said, jumping up a few moments later. "C'mon!"

The brothers made their way into the marketplace, away from the automail stores. Alphonse walked up to an elderly female at one of the booths and got her attention. "Ma'am? Excuse me?"

"Yes? Oh, look how big you are! And you," she said, pointing a finger at Edward, "You're the one everyone has been talking about today. You went and beat those two hooligans who kept taking everyone's hard-earned money with their tricks! Good for you, dear…"

"Uh…yeah…Thanks…Anyway, ma'am, I was wondering if you knew anyone around this area who knows alchemy really well, or is known for using powerful alchemy…" He saw Edward tilt his head, trying to figure out where Al was going with this.

"Why yes dear! But that's very funny, because someone just came here not a moment before you walked up asking the very same question!"

Edward's head shot up, now definitely interested in the conversation, "Who, do you know who they were?"

"Why yes, dear. She's right over there. The one with the short red hair…"

Ed looked over to where the old woman pointed and frowned, "Al, it's that wench who pushed me off the train the other da-"

"Now you don't just go around calling nice, young ladies 'wenches' my lad! Who taught you your manners?" the old woman frowned at his comment.

"Sorry, we'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Edward said as he walked off, not waiting for the woman's response. Al was surprised at his brother's reaction and quickly apologized to the woman, then caught up with his brother.

"Ed, what has gotten into you? What are you thinking?" Al scolded.

"Think about it, Al. That girl wants to know what we want to know. We just need to find out how much _she_ knows…"

The brothers followed the girl for a few minutes, walking a short distance behind her, but not making it noticeable that they were following her. The girl was medium height and slim, and looked to be maybe late teens, or possibly in her early twenties. She had reddish hair, which was very short and spiky. She dressed in a simple black tank top that was tucked into her camouflage pants that had quite a few pockets. Edward and Alphonse could see a holster that went over her shoulders and held two large handguns against the sides of her back. She also had two smaller pistols; each one strapped next to large knives on the outside of both legs. The girl had an automail for her left arm, which in Rush Valley wasn't too uncommon, but even hers stood out to most people. It was a very simple design, but looked extremely durable and strong.

"Brother, she seems to be armed pretty heavily," commented Al as they both continued to follow her. The crowds lessened slightly as the trio moved further away from the marketplace, and Edward wondered where the girl was heading. He saw her glance over her shoulder, though couldn't make out her face due to the sunglasses she wore. She quickly turned her head back, and he knew she realized they were following her. His thought was confirmed when the girl suddenly leapt from the smaller crowd and began running full speed down an alley.

"Al! Let's go!" Edward yelled as he began to run towards the alley the girl went into. When he got to the entrance to the alley, he looked around, but was not able to find her; it was as if she had disappeared. He slowly began to walk down the alley, looking in places that she could have hid. Movement from above caught his eye, and he saw her on the rooftop running away from them.

"Al, try to see if you can stay ahead of her! I'll chase her from behind!" Edward yelled as he jumped onto the fire escape she used to get up so high. Alphonse ran down the alley to try and cut the girl off in case she came down.

Edward leapt up the last few rails and climbed onto the roof. He quickly glanced around and spotted the girl running in front of him. He took off, being careful when he jumped between the close buildings. Pinako would be furious if he broke his arm or leg in such a stupid way.

"Hey! You! Wait up a second!" he yelled to the girl as he gained on her. He could see her turn her head and watch him as well as Al from below. She would often change directions in the hope that the armor would get stuck in a dead end. After switching directions slightly the girl finally stopped at the edge of the rooftop and pulled both of her bigger guns out, pointing them straight at Edward. He stopped short of her when he saw the guns, and put his hands in the air slightly.

"We just want to ask you a few questions…We're not here to hurt you or anything…" The girl lowered her guns slightly, her short hair waving violently from the wind and the running He could not identify her still because of those sunglasses she still wore, though the shine from her necklace was slightly blinding him. It held a pendant of some sort, though he could not see it since it was underneath her top.

"Please, just talk to us…" he panted. The girl slowly put her guns away, though she stayed on the edge of the building. Edward reached a hand towards her to help her down, only to be shocked when she jumped backwards towards the ground.

"Wait, no!" Edward yelled. She would hurt herself if she landed from the height they were at. He got to the edge of the rooftop in time to see her grab onto a pipe that extended between the two buildings and swing around it. After a few swings, she let go and landed gracefully, and began to run again without pausing.

_What is she, part cat?_ Edward thought to himself as he clapped his hands and slammed them to the rooftop surface. Stairs formed and jutted out from the building he was on, and he wasted no time in running down them. He continued to yell at her to stop, but she ignored him and kept running away.

Edward had finally had enough running and slammed his hands to the ground. An eight-foot wall appeared in front of the girl, and instead of stopping her, Edward was amazed that she easily jumped and caught the top of the wall, and then pulled herself over. _How the hell does she do that?_ He yelled in his mind as he came across his own wall. He quickly slammed his hands against the surface, causing it to crumble away. She wasn't in front of him anymore, but Edward noticed an intersection between the buildings ahead. She must have gone down one of the other paths.

Edward made it to the intersection, and looked around to see that each of the other paths had their own intersections as well. "Damn city! Why do you have to be so freaking big?" He yelled out. Looking down, he was able to pick up her boot prints and began to follow them.

* * *

Alphonse quickly lost the chase when the teenage girl began changing directions slightly. He would have to go to the next intersection and listen to his brother yelling, and then go in the direction he believed them to be in. He continued to run along until he came to an intersection he believed to be close to the two teenagers. Sure enough, a moment later a running figure crashed into him, and they both toppled to the ground. Al got up quickly to see the girl scrambling to get up, and then look frantically around for the sunglasses that flew off when she collided with the armor. Looking down, Al noticed the glasses were by his feet, so he picked them up and cleared his throat. He could see the girl's body stiffen, and slowly turn around, keeping her head down. She tried to quickly run past him, forgetting about her glasses, but was stopped when he grabbed her by the wrists.

"Hey, we're not here to hurt you, we just want to ask some questions…" The girl became frantic and tried to escape, but Al would not release his grip from her. "What's wrong? Why are you fighting so much?"

"Please, just let me go, Al," whimpered a familiar voice. Surprised, Al looked down to see Winry's face staring back at him. She looked quite panicked and worried; turning her head every time she heard a slight noise.

"Winry?" questioned Al, causing the girl to nod her head, "What are you doing here--"

"Al! Good going! We got her!" came Edward's voice in the distance. Winry snapped her head up, and she looked pleadingly up at Al.

"Please, Al…"

Al knew her reasons for not wanting to see his brother, and nodded. He let all pressure off of her wrists, but made it look like he still had them in his hands. Without waiting another moment, Winry wrenched her wrists away from Al, grabbed the sunglasses, and put them on quickly. Edward, realizing the girl broke loose from his brother, picked up his speed, gaining ground and coming closer to the two. In a split second, Winry had both guns out and kneeled slightly, taking aim at Edward.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Al yelled, about ready to lunge and grab the guns.

"Trust me, Al, I know what I'm doing," Winry muttered quickly as she glanced around, looking for a target. She shot one round off and hit a clothesline at just the right moment, tangling Edward up as he ran towards the two. Caught up in the clothes and sheets, Ed quickly got wrapped and fell forward. The two could hear him audibly cursing, trying to break free. Winry quickly holstered both guns, and looked to Al.

"Thank you," she whispered before taking off down one of the other alleyways. Al turned and watched her go, and then disappear around a corner. Moments later, Edward came running up, finally disentangling himself from his bonds, "Why'd you let her go?" he demanded.

"I didn't, brother. She was just pretty strong for a girl." He saw his brother begin to run again and called out to him, "Brother, why are you still going to chase her?"

Edward panted as he walked back to his younger brother, "Al, she probably knows something we don't. We gotta catch her!"

"But think about it brother," Al commented, trying to give Winry plenty of time to escape, "She didn't use any alchemy on us. Why would she know something we don't when she can't even use alchemy?"

Edward stood for a moment to catch his breath and think, "Okay, fine. We'll let her go for today, but I'm going to keep an eye out for her," he finally grumbled. "I just think she knows a hell of a lot, and I want to know what it is."

"Yeah, brother," the younger brother said as he saw the sun disappear behind one of the tall buildings. He knew his friend was far enough away, "She knows a lot…"


	22. Chapter 22

You all just about gave this poor author a heart attack! I just got home and saw my inbox with lots of reviews that I thought I really did irritate the lot of you! Well, I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this, but what the hell…Let's do it tonight…

I do hope I was able to describe the range well enough in this chapter...I actually had to draw a blueprint for it when I was writing this!

All I have to say to everyone who wanted to see more of William: You got it!

I think this one will throw you ALL for a loop (evil laughter)…

I can already hear the mass WTF in the background!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two 

The sun shone high in the midday sky as the teenage girl stepped off the train. Winry looked around at her familiar settings and happily sighed; she never thought she would be so happy to return to Central Headquarters. The past few weeks had been hard on her. As the train she rode on to Rush Valley stopped in a small town to pick up new passengers, Winry hid herself as best she could when she realized the brothers boarded. Of all the luck! That is why she also pushed her way past them in the train station and didn't turn around to apologize; she would be found out even before she could begin. Edward did not give up his search for the 'girl who knew too much' during her time in Rush Valley, and it seemed everyday ended up in a chase through town. She refrained from using alchemy each time, as she didn't want to give him any ideas as to who she could be, but apparently it didn't deter him from pursuing her. She was able to get away almost every time with the help of Al, who would usually cover up for her. At one point during one of their last chases, Winry thought she was done for when she fell on one of the rooftops. Edward grabbed her right ankle, but was unable to do anything as she quickly kicked at him, landing a nice hit to his face. She felt bad as he sat there and cursed her, holding his face, but she knew he would be okay as she ran off.

Shortly after came the rumor of the loud woman and her large husband taking the boys from the city. The moment Winry heard the rumor she cringed, knowing that their sensei would give the brothers hell. Finally, though, Winry would have some decent time to do some research on the Philosopher's Stone, without the interruption of Edward and Alphonse. There wasn't as much information as she would have hoped, but was finally directed to a small house north of Dublith; home to a woman named Dante. Winry made the trek there, concealing her identity in case the boys were still around the area, but was disappointed when she arrived at the empty house. Asking questions to nearby neighbors resulted in no new information; just that the woman was killed not too long ago. Lyla, Dante's apprentice, was nowhere to be found. Many were worried she may have been kidnapped, and wished for her safety. Winry assured many of them that if she found the apprentice that she would help her in any way she could.

"Lady, could you move it? You're blocking the exit…" came the voice of an irate man behind her. 

"Oh, sorry," Winry blushed as she apologized and walked further into the train station. She quickly hailed a taxi, and directed the driver to drop her off at the headquarters.

Winry stepped out of the taxi and dropped off her bag in her room before she proceeded to Colonel Mustang's office with her report. She arrived at the double doors minutes later and knocked lightly. Second Lieutenant Havoc answered the door and smiled when he realized who the visitor was. Winry reached up and gave the man a large hug, and walked into the office to face the Colonel and the rest of her fellow soldiers.

"Winry! Good to see ya!" called out Breda, standing up and giving the teenager a hug. Both Sergeant Fury and Warrant Officer Falman approached and hugged the teenager, as Black Hayate, First Lieutenant Hawkeye's dog, barked happily by their feet.

"Your hair! I knew you had cut it, but when did you dye it?" questioned Fury, as he cocked his head to look at the girl's changes.

"I did it a few hours before I left for Rush Valley. What are you trying to say, Cain, do you not like it?" Winry said jokingly, holding up a fist in the soldier's direction. He quickly held up his hands in defeat and took his seat. Winry looked up to see Hawkeye approaching her, and she quickly retrieved all of her guns and placed them on a nearby desk. Hawkeye smiled at the girl's actions and quickly inspected each weapon, dismantling them and rebuilding them in a matter of seconds.

"Better than I expected. You really did learn something, didn't you?" the older officer laughed as she handed the guns back to the teenager. Winry replaced all of her guns in their holsters and walked up to Mustang's desk, who had been watching the whole ordeal with amused interest.

"Interesting choice of color. You weren't joking when you said you were changing a few things…" he said, commenting on the girl's hair. Winry blushed slightly; she never knew when he was complimenting or teasing her. The girl quickly went through her report, telling him everything from the chases at Rush Valley to the empty house and murder of Dante near the town of Dublith. The colonel sat quietly for a few moments after Winry finished her report, contemplating the amount of information that he had just received. The phone rang while he deliberated, surprising everyone in the room. Lieutenant Hawkeye quickly answered it, and turned towards the Colonel as her face became serious.

"Colonel, the tiger has made his move."

Mustang looked over to his next in command and realized what she said. He quickly stood up, nodded to her, and walked out of his office to the direction of the Fuhrer's office. Hawkeye saw everyone look at each other in confusion, "Don't even ask. I'm not telling you anything."

* * *

Winry opened the door to her room and smiled to herself as she saw her bag still sitting on the bed. _Well, at least I won't have to pack_, she thought to herself, as she lifted the bag and set it on the floor. She remember sitting in Mustang's office, chatting with her friends, when he finally came back from the Fuhrer's office. He looked around at the group and announced that they would be heading to Eastern Headquarters by train early the next morning. Winry didn't really know what was going on in Eastern, but she trusted Mustang and would follow him under his lead. 

Walking over to her bookshelf, Winry picked up some tools, sat down at her desk, and turned the light on. For the next hour she checked out every single aspect of her automail, making sure there were no problems. Finally finished with her inspection and repairs, she gently squeezed oil from a small container into her joints, helping to prevent them from freezing in place.

Winry leaned back in her chair and stared outside the window to see it was late in the afternoon. She really didn't have anything else to do in this town. All of her supplies for her automail were good, so she didn't need to go shopping. She had tried to call the Hughes' residence only to find that the two girls must be out shopping. Winry sighed to herself in boredom before letting her gaze drift to her bed to where she had laid her guns. _A little gun practice wouldn't hurt_, she smiled to herself as she quickly holstered them and bounded out the door.

* * *

The outdoor gun range was pretty much empty except for a few soldiers showing off their guns to each other. They were by one of the two rectangular tables that sat on each end of the shooting range, which were usually used for cleaning guns after practice. The men turned and frowned when they noticed the girl walk into the range, and quickly returned to their boasting, ignoring her. Winry snickered to herself at their actions; she would really rather not speak to them anyway. She walked up to one of the empty stalls towards the back tall wall and removed her guns, setting them on the available ledge in front of her. She could barely hear the everyday activities happening on the other side of the twenty-foot wall, which had been erected for safety reasons. Pressing a button on her right side made a small mechanical hook zoom towards her, and she attached a piece of paper with an outline of a person onto it. Pressing the button again made the hook and paper zoom back to a distance away from the shooter. 

Winry left her guns momentarily to retrieve a pair of goggles that hung on poles placed by every few stalls. She quickly returned to her guns and slid the goggles onto her face, and stared calmly at the paper that gently waved in the wind. Seconds later, the teenager snatched one of her guns from the ledge and quickly shot six shots in a row, slammed down her gun to retrieve another one, and continued shooting until she went through all four guns. As the echoing sounds of gunfire settled, she pressed the button to send the piece of paper zooming back towards her as she slid the goggles to the top of her forehead. Unhooking it, she examined the bullet holes, noticing that she still needed some improvement, though not very much.

"Nice job, I'm glad I wasn't the target," came a familiar voice from behind her. The distraction startled the teenager as she whirled around to find it was William looking over her shoulder. She roughly pushed him back, surprising him slightly, and caught her breath.

"Jesus, don't do that! What if I would have had a gun in my hand?" she yelled at him. The conversation she had with Maes the night he died rang through her ears, as she stared at the soldier. The painful memories brought tears to her eyes, though she would not let them fall.

"Well, I guess I'd be dead then, wouldn't I? With shots like that, I would definitely be a goner," he joked as he scratched the back of his head. Noticing the girl's change in attitude surprised him slightly, "What's wrong? Did I really scare you that bad?"

Winry glanced to her side to see the group of bragging soldiers were gone. She began to regret her decision to come out to the range today.

"Winry, what's wrong?" William asked quietly. He had never seen his friend act so strange.

"It's nothing," she mumbled, as she turned around to reload her guns, keeping her eye on him the entire time, "don't worry about it."

"Well, I like your hair. It's kind of a shock to see it at first, I almost didn't recognize you, but it looks good nonetheless…" he said quietly after a few moments of silence. Winry heard him shift slightly behind her, shoved the cartridge in her last gun, and quickly whirled around pointing it at his face. The soldier threw his hands up in the air as a sign of surrender, "What the hell has gotten into you?" he yelled at the teenager.

Keeping the gun in her hand pointed at him, Winry quickly felt behind her for her other loaded guns and holstered them in their places, then returned her hand to the gun. She stayed silent, studied the soldier's surprised face, and narrowed her eyes.

"Just who are you…" she sneered at the man, keeping her aim at his head.

"What are you talking about? Are you crazy?" the soldier became slightly worried. With her having him in her direct sight, it would be difficult for him to pull his own weapons out to defend himself.

"I just find it kind of funny," Winry began, "that when I visited Rush Valley a few weeks ago, I did some research on the Ishbal conflict. You're aware of what it was, aren't you?"

"Yes, I've read about it, I was still a child when it happened though…"

"Did you know that the rebellion was caused," she continued, not paying attention to his response, "by a soldier who was staying there? He shot a helpless Ishbal child. The interesting thing about this is that the soldier should've been dead two years before the rebellion…"

"Yes, I agree it's strange, but would you _please _put down the gun?"

"Here is another curious thing. The soldier should've been dead, but the name was never removed from the military records, and is supposedly still in active duty," Winry saw the look in William's eyes become less worried, and it frightened her. "So, I looked you up in your hometown of Rush Valley, Chadwick, and realized you no longer sport the small scar on the left side of your neck that you got when you were a teenager. What happened to it?"

William looked at the teenage girl and began to slightly laugh, surprising her. "You are just like your friend I got rid of," he said as he moved his hand over his neck, and with a flash of light caused a small scar to appear on the skin, "you notice too many small details."

Winry narrowed her eyes as anger began to flow through her veins, "You were the one who killed Maes…"

"Of course I killed him," he said, as his blue eyes glimmered in the setting sun's rays, "though it's too bad. I was told I couldn't kill you, but they didn't say anything about having fun with you first." Winry fired a shot as William lunged towards her. The shot went straight into his forehead and he fell back into a lifeless heap. Winry gasped for breath as she realized what she had done and braced herself against a pole for support. She turned away from his lifeless body and holstered her gun. She had never killed anyone before, not even during the nighttime brawl in New Heissgart. Her nerves were making her body shake. As she tried to calm herself down, a hand came from behind her to cover her mouth, while another one wound around her arms and waist, and pulled her back into a body. She struggled against the person, but wasn't strong enough to break free from their grip. Her arms were down by her side, and she was unable to free them to swing back.

"You won't kill me that easily, kid. Your friend found that out the hard way," came William's voice from behind her as he placed his chin on her shoulder. Anger coursed through her veins at the thought of Maes's death. Without warning, Winry bit down on the hand that held her mouth, and used her hand to free one of the knives strapped to her legs. William yelled as he yanked his hand away from her mouth and loosened his grip on her stomach, giving her enough space to move. She quickly grabbed the knife strapped to her right leg and shoved it behind her, slicing his gut. She heard him gasp and step back, as she twisted her body from his grip.

Winry whirled around to see the long gash across the soldier's stomach bleeding down his uniform. She quickly grabbed the other knife from her left leg and prepared to fight him. She saw him look up at her and smile, "You're more stubborn that I thought," he sneered as his gash began to mend itself.

"You know, I find it funny that a lot of people say that!" Winry yelled as she ran towards the soldier. He quickly dodged her attack and landed ten feet or so away from her; the gash on his stomach now fully healed.

"What are you?" she asked, as she noticed his fast healing. She saw him produce two knives equally as big as hers and smile at her.

"I guess the little girl wants to play instead of run, eh? Not that I'd let you run anyway--" A noise caused William to turn his head towards the front of the shooting range to see Sergeant Fury staring at them; the young soldier's eyes were wide with surprise and confusion at the scene before him. "Looks like I've got another one to play with…I can kill this one though…kind of makes up for not being able to kill you," he laughed as he began to run towards the surprised Sergeant.

* * *

"NO! CAIN, RUN!" Winry yelled as she ran after William. Just as he was about to reach Fury, Winry threw one of her knives at him, sinking it in his back. This stopped Chadwick long enough for Fury to regain his senses and run out the door. William turned back towards Winry and sneered, pulling the knife from his back and tossed it to the side, "Oh, dear me. Now you've only got one knife to my two. Whatever shall you do?" 

Winry looked to the knife that had been thrown by a pole to her left. Without wasting any time she took off full speed towards the pole, surprising William. Realizing she was running for her knife, he quickly leapt towards it, but was met with an automail foot, as Winry instead grabbed the pole with one hand and swung around it to kick him. The force of her kick caused him to fly back into one of the rectangular tables used for cleaning guns. William slowly stood up next to the table and stretched out his arms, "Well, that was a surprise now, wasn't it. How about another one, eh?"

Winry cocked her head at the weird statement, but was surprised when a light began from the top of his head and worked its way down to his feet. When the light finally disappeared, she saw a completely different person standing in the same spot. He, as she guessed it was a man, was very slender and had a very tight fitting black shirt and shorts on. His black hair was long and spiky underneath the headband he wore.

"Ahhh…" he said as he stretched some more, "I can fight much better like this than being in those heavy uniforms…I just don't see how you guys can do it all the time…"

Before Winry could react, the man ran towards her with lightning speed and knocked her into one of the shooting stalls. Her back slammed into the ledge, causing her to yelp in pain. She sliced the area in front of her with her knives, hoping to slice her attacker if he was still too close, but felt them go through thin air. She quickly stood up and looked around, not seeing the man anywhere around her. She quickly sheathed her knives and withdrew the two bigger guns, and pushed herself against one of the stall walls.

Breathing heavily, Winry glanced around without moving too much, trying to locate her enemy. A few moments passed with no incident. Winry was hoping he might have gone away when she heard snickering above her. Perched on top of the thin wall was the man, crouched down while he was looking at her. She quickly moved from the wall and shot a few shots towards her attacker. Three of the shots hit him and stopped him for a few split seconds, but she could see his wounds healed faster than the gash she gave him earlier.

"Awww…you make it look like you don't remember an old friend! How heartless…" he pouted.

"What are you talking about?" Winry yelled to him as she backed towards the table. She would have rather run for the door, but he would have caught her in no time with his speed. Suddenly, images from her faded memories flooded her mind, causing her to lean back slightly on the table.

"Wait…You are….you're that guy…" Winry said quietly, trying to remember who her attacker was. Her automail limbs itched with a slight pain. "You're the guy who showed up at my house that one day…" her eyes narrowed with anger as she holstered her guns; she now knew they would be of no use in this fight.

"You're the one who took my arm and leg…It's because of you that I have automail now…" she sneered. The man yawned in boredom as the girl became angrier with him. "You're a…a homunculus…"

"Geez, it took you long enough. Well, let's get this over with. Pretty soon it will be dark, which will make fighting you no fun…" Smiling slightly, the attacker ran towards the girl with his knives. She was able to jump up on the table to dodge his attack, but had to back up quickly as he followed her onto the table. The two stood within arm's reach of one another and stared at each other. Winry backed up quickly as he slashed at her with one of his knives. She reached the end of the table and used her automail arm to deflect one of his attacks. Another got by and barely sliced her cheek. She felt the blood trickle down her face as she back flipped off the table, and quickly jumped on the next one.

"You really think you can escape me? I was able to get you last time, wasn't I?" he said as he jumped down and up onto her table. She again retreated to the edge and kneeled down, lowering her head.

"Finally, I thought you were never going to give up!"

He heard Winry chuckling slightly as she kept her head lowered, "Who said anything about giving up?" Before he had a chance to react, she clapped her hands together and slammed them to the wood of the table, then jumped off. The wood instantly began to wrap itself around her attacker's limbs, preventing him from moving. He seemed surprised and tried to pull himself out of his bonds.

"Nice work, I'm somewhat impressed. But you are forgetting one thing…" the homunculus said as he laughed slightly. Within seconds he transformed himself into a child small enough to wiggle out of the wooden bonds, and back to his prior look. He walked to the edge of the table that hadn't transformed and kneeled down to look at the surprised teenager, "I can change shape."

Winry gasped as he jumped down instantly and grabbed her by the wrists, "Maybe I should try a look more to your liking. It might even make you more cooperative," The light overtook his body again, though he still held his grip on her. When the light disappeared, Winry was shocked to see Edward holding her wrists. She tried pulling her wrists away, but was unable to.

"So, how do you like it," Edward's voice rang through her ears. This couldn't be happening to her.

* * *

"Winry!" 

Both Winry and her attacker looked to the front of the shooting range as Mustang, Hawkeye, Fury, Havoc, Breda, and Falman burst through the double doors. She sighed in relief at the sight of her friends as they all pulled their guns out, except for Mustang who had both of his gloves on.

"Edward, let go of her at once!" Commanded Mustang as he raised his hand, ready to attack if necessary.

"It's not Edward!" the teenager screamed towards her friends, causing a few of them to look surprised.

Winry saw as her attacker looked back down to her and sneered, "So, you're friends want to die as well? It can be arranged…" Winry began to pull her wrists away from him again to no avail. "What are you going to do now that you don't have your hands to use?"

"Just because I don't have my hands, doesn't mean I'm helpless, homunculus," Winry sneered as she stomped her foot to the ground, causing a blade to spring from each side and meet in the front. She quickly sliced both of his knees with her boot, causing him to loosen his grip on her wrists. Clapping her hands together, she turned her arm into a blade and lunged for him, but missed as he moved at the last second. A piercing pain was felt through her body as his elbow connected between her shoulder blades, causing her to fall towards the ground. She landed hard, and rolled out of the way as Mustang sent fireballs and explosions towards her attacker. They knocked him back a few feet, though his wounds still healed fast. Between the gunfire from her friends, her own lightning attacks, and Mustang's fireballs, the homunculus was finally pushed to the back wall.

He quickly changed back into his original form; the one Winry remembered from her memories, and sneered at the girl, "Don't worry. This isn't over. I'll have my playtime again soon." He quickly jumped to the top of the twenty-foot wall and disappeared behind it.

* * *

Winry continued to kneel as she heard her comrades run up to her from behind. Havoc kneeled down in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders, checking to see if the girl was all right. Breathing heavily, she slowly lifted her head to see him staring at her; they all were staring at her. "You okay, Winry? Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked. 

Winry nodded slightly, and saw her tears slowly blur her vision, "Thank you for everything, guys. I don't know how much longer I would have lasted against him…" she quickly wiped her eyes with her hand. She was trying to refrain from being so upset in front of everyone; she wanted to act like an adult for once, but her body wouldn't cooperate with her mind. Winry looked up to see Colonel Mustang kneeling down next to her, and more tears began to build up, "I'm so sorry Colonel…I didn't mean for him to get away-"

"Don't worry about that," Jean interrupted her. "There will be plenty of other times to get him." He always hated the way she blamed herself for everything that went wrong.

"You don't understand though," Winry said quietly as she lowered her head. She didn't want to see anyone's reactions to her next statement. "He was the one who killed Hughes…"

The sharp intake of air around her didn't surprise the teenager, as her friend's death was still fresh in everyone's mind. She felt Havoc's hands grasp her own, and he helped her to stand up, though she kept her head down, not wanting to look at anyone. He lifted her face with his hand and wiped away the tears that were beginning to flow down her cheeks, being mindful of the cut on the side of her face. Winry smiled slightly at the kind gesture as she reached forward and gave the man a hug. His body tensed at first, but quickly warmed up to her as he wrapped his arms around the smaller woman.

"Winry, I want you to stay with First Lieutenant Hawkeye tonight," Mustang said quietly after a few moments of silence. "And I want you two," he said, indicating Fury and Breda, "to stand watch outside the room in case that thing shows back up. Falman, I want you and Havoc to pull the reports from the Fifth Laboratory, along with Edward's drawings to me as soon as you locate them."

Winry left the embrace of her friend to face her superior officer, "You mean this thing also had something to do with the Fifth Laboratory incident?"

Mustang nodded in agreement, "Yes, Edward drew some pictures of the homunculus he encountered there…from what I saw tonight, I believe he may be the one responsible for impersonating the late Brigadier General Basque Gran, though I want to make sure."

Winry nodded at the new information, "Colonel, during my last conversation with Hughes…he, uh, he mentioned for me not to contact or be around the soldier William Chadwick, who I just discovered was the homunculus. But he also said there was another person impersonating a soldier who should have died years ago, at least before the rebellion. He told me that right before he went to meet up with the Fuhrer's secretary. Apparently she had arranged a meeting for him with the Crystal Alchemist, Dr. Marcoh," she said quietly at the memory. "That was the last time I spoke to him."

Mustang stared at the teenager, and rubbed his chin slightly as he thought. "Okay, I'll get Scieszka to pull all of the books he had out the night of the meeting. She may even know something as well."

Winry jumped slightly as something covered her shoulders, but relaxed when she realized it was Havoc putting his coat over her. The night had settled, and the chilly night air blew slightly around the group as they continued to talk to one another. She smiled in thanks back to her friend as the group finally exited the shooting range back into the safety of the building. As they were leaving, Winry turned around to look at the shooting range once more before they departed in the morning. Her heart felt heavy at the loss of what she had thought was a close friend, which caused her to sigh heavily. A hand on her shoulder brought her from her thoughts, as she turned around to see Havoc looking at her with concern in his eyes. Smiling to herself, she placed her hand on top of his as the two caught up to their group of comrades. Winry realized then just how many friends she had in her life, and she vowed silently to help protect them in any way she could.


	23. Chapter 23

Well, well, well! Did everyone have fun with that last chapter? I kept reading how you guys wanted me to bring more of William into the story, and the whole time I was just quietly laughing to myself. Anyways, I've skipped ahead a few episodes (were we really going ep by ep?), so those of you who have watched the series will understand where I'm at. I figured I'd try to put as much action in as possible, which is why I post so many non-action chapters at once! I hope I didn't make this chapter too choppy, but I had to use some of the subbed episode to help me get through…

(pushes horns back into head) I swear I'll try to be nice from now on…_try_ is the keyword here! (evil laughter)

And one more thing…please don't get confused towards the middle/end of this chapter. I end up skipping a few episodes, so that I wouldn't have to keep dragging you guys through a _bunch_ of dialogue and the like.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Well, well. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Mustang said as he saw the two Elric brothers sitting in front of him. A scout patrol consisting of Havoc and Breda was sent to the nearby deserted and destroyed town of Ishbal to make sure no civilians were wandering around. They happened to come across Edward and his brother Alphonse, and brought them back to Eastern to report in to Colonel Mustang. Colonel Archer, who had come along for the trip stood next to his fellow officer to observe the teenagers.

"Oh yes," Edward said sarcastically, "I'm so small that you can't see me amongst the grains of sand, LIKE ALWAYS--!" he yelled at the last part, coming out of his seat towards his superior officer. The sudden movement surprised Colonel Archer as he reached for his weapon, only to be held back slightly by Mustang. He knew the boy had a temper, and was already ignoring it.

"I hear you've been causing quite a bit of trouble. The incident at the Southern Headquarters, as well as the event following the Ishballites' escort train." Edward glared at Mustang, but finally sat down, somewhat calmer. He crossed his arms and looked in another direction as the Colonel continued. "Anyway, you will be under my command from here on in."

"Please, wait!" interjected Al, only to be interrupted by the Colonel.

"You were lucky that Havoc's patrol found the two of you."

"But…" continued Al, "we should have permission to conduct an investigation of our own!" He was stopped as Edward stood from his seat and faced his brother.

"However," he began, "once there is a call to arms, I become a dog of the military…"

"But, brother…"

"They've come all the way out here on a military train," Edward said, ignoring Al. The group watched as a large tank drove by the window, assembling itself with the other tanks that were transported from Central.

Alphonse turned from the window to look at his brother and the soldiers, "Could this be…a war?"

Archer smiled slightly as he responded to the teenager's question, "We are just suppressing an uprising region." Mustang continued where his fellow officer left off, "Our objective is a city two kilometers to the South-Southeast."

Chuckling to himself, Edward replied sarcastically, "A little big for a suppression, don't you think?"

"Is it really?" questioned Archer.

Keeping his arms folded across his chest still, Edward spoke, "Do you want me to come right out and say it? It's Scar, isn't it?" He turned to face Colonel Mustang, "We were just looking for him as well."

* * *

Later that morning, Edward and Alphonse sat with Mustang and his group of soldiers in a private dining room as lunch was served to the teenager. Next to Lieutenant Hawkeye stood a small end table covered in pictures that she would constantly flip through. Edward ate quickly, as he always did, while Mustang watched him. "Why are you after Scar?"

"If we don't take him down now," Edward said between mouthfuls, "we'll have problems later." He continued to eat as silence plagued the room. Breda, Falman, and Fury sat at the table as well, staring at the pictures Hawkeye was now placing on the larger tabletop, while Havoc leaned against a nearby wall smoking his cigarette. As Ed took a bite of bread, he noticed the pictures, "What are those?"

"They're pictures taken by our new surveillance balloon," Mustang replied, as Ed kept eyeing them from his spot at the table. Suddenly, a thought struck him and he stood up to reach one of pictures, and stared at it in his hands.

"This is a…" he whispered as he stared at the picture.

"No way," muttered Alphonse from next to him, "A transmutation circle on an entire city?" Sure enough, it appeared that deep gouges had run through the streets of the city in the picture to finally connect into a gigantic transmutation circle. "Who could do such a thing?"

"Scar…" Edward whispered to no one in particular, his eyes still concentrated on the photo.

"So it is him," Mustang stated a moment later.

"Edward, would you also happen to know his motive?" asked First Lieutenant Hawkeye. She saw him shake his head, "No. By the way, what is this city?"

Sergeant Fury piped in when no one else did, "The name of the city is Lior." He saw Edward lift his head up in surprise, but continued with his explanation, "Last year the priest who oppressed the city retired, and with the help of the military, peace was just returning—"

"Sergeant Fury," interrupted Colonel Mustang, "He already knows." Everyone watched as Edward placed the photo on the table and continued to stare at it. "Lior…" he said as he began to shake with anger, "An armed uprising in Lior?"

"But this can't be!" Al exclaimed as he stood up next to his brother, "The city returned to being peaceful after we took down that fraudulent priest--"

"No," interrupted Havoc from across the room, "The city has been split into the priest's faction and the civilian's faction," he said as he put out his cigarette. "So it's been quite hectic there. Now both sides are opposing the military."

Edward stared at him as the Lieutenant spoke so calmly. Anger finally got the better of him as he turned back around and slammed his hands on the table, "Why didn't you tell me!" he yelled at the Colonel. "Originally, I was--!"

The Colonel's face became stern as he addressed the younger alchemist, "I had received the report from Hughes, but I stopped them."

"WHY?"

"Because it's too big for you," the Colonel said harshly, ending the conversation.

* * *

All five of Colonel Mustang's subordinates, sat outside in the foyer of the Eastern Headquarters later that afternoon. The youngest of the group, Fury, sat hunched over on a stack of shipping boxes, while Havoc and Breda sat on the ground and leaned against them. Both Hawkeye and Falman leaned against nearby cement walls.

"Edward and Alphonse really don't know about Brigadier General Hughes?" Fury questioned sadly as he looked down to his comrades.

"So it seems," responded Havoc as he smoked on another cigarette.

"Well, they might just run back to Central if we tell them," Breda said stubbornly, with his arms crossed in front of him.

"He's a valuable force in battle though," Falman interjected as he faced towards his companions.

First Lieutenant Hawkeye closed the book she had been reading when she overheard the conversation going on around her, "They are in a precarious position. I want them where I can see them….I'm sure that's what the Colonel is thinking right now." Her fellow soldiers looked to her for a few moments before they heard the familiar sound of empty armor walking their way. They all turned to see Alphonse walking up to them.

"Um, have you guys seen my brother?"

* * *

Edward stood straight as Colonel Archer conversed with him in his office. "You will report directly back to me," instructed Archer. "Also, as long as you observe the conditions I laid out, I will permit it."

The door to the Colonel's office opened as Colonel Mustang stormed it, "Ed! What are you doing here!" He closed the door and walked up to stand by his younger alchemist, as Archer smirked.

"By his standing request, he will scout the city of Lior…"

"So you're going to let a precious state alchemist go sight-seeing?" Mustang replied sternly. He didn't like the looks of where this situation was going.

"That's exactly why he will come back alive," Archer said calmly, "He also knows the city of Lior better than anyone."

Colonel Mustang looked down to Edward, who calmly had his eyes closed so he could just listen to the conversation. Colonel Archer saw the look of apprehension on the fellow officer's face and chuckled slightly. "Don't be worried. He says he is leaving his brother." Mustang was surprised at this new information; Edward would never leave Alphonse behind unless it was for an extremely important reason. "Yes," continued Archer as he interlaced his hands in front of him on the desk, "I'm sure he won't run away and leave his precious little brother behind. Edward, you may leave now."

Edward turned to leave the room, but was stopped when he heard Colonel Mustang speak, "Stay outside, I wish to speak with you there." The two officers watched as the teenager exited the room. Mustang turned towards Archer and frowned, "You had no right asking my subordinate to do a duty for yo--"

"I had nothing to do with it. The boy came to me and asked if he could be sent to investigate the city, Colonel. After weighing the options, I believed it would be a good idea to have an undercover get more information before the suppression began."

"But it would have been smart if you considered your _fellow_ officers had already done the same thing!"

Archer narrowed his eyes at Mustang's use of sarcasm, "What are you trying to get at, Roy…"

"What I'm trying to say is that I've already sent an alchemist undercover into the city, so there is no need for two of them to be roaming around during a time like this…"

"This is certainly a weird situation then, wouldn't you say? But unless your alchemist decides on his own that he will not go to Lior and leave his little brother behind, then I am obligated as a ranking _officer_," Archer said with the same sarcasm that Mustang used moments before, "to stand behind him if it would benefit the military in any way."

Mustang glared at the fellow officer, turned away, and walked out of his office without another word.

* * *

The air around the surviving soldiers was solemn as many of them loaded the trains to travel back to Central. After the crimson light engulfed the city of Lior, close to one thousand of their fellow soldiers disappeared without a trace. Some were severely injured, such as Colonel Archer, and were being loaded on first to seek fast medical attention. A few dozen soldiers stayed behind to help dig through the new flatland in hopes of finding their fellow comrades. Colonel Mustang stood and supervised the men, trying to take in the entire situation at once.

"It seems that Kimbly's death had been confirmed before the red light appeared," reported Sergeant Fury as he walked up to his superior officer. "But, at that point, Scar was alive."

Both Second Lieutenant Breda and Havoc marched up as Fury finished, wanting to report their own findings. "It also seems that the civilians fled the city before the military invaded," Breda reported as he saluted. "We've found an underground passage and are now following it."

First Lieutenant Hawkeye looked at the soldiers while they reported their information, "This means they never planned on resisting," she said, thinking aloud.

"Did they plan to use the soldiers as ingredients for the alchemy array covering this city?" Colonel Mustang said aloud, continuing his subordinate's thoughts.

"Edward and Alphonse seem to be fine," Havoc said after a moment. "Several soldiers have spotted them. About an hour ago, Ed, accompanied by Al, left this place."

"Did they leave on another journey?" asked Hawkeye, "But…"

Mustang turned his head slightly to look at her, "No, I don't believe that they helped Scar create the Philosopher's Stone."

"Colonel!" came Warrant Officer Falman's voice from the side.

The group turned around to see Falman standing in front of a line of soldiers. He stepped to the side to show Fuhrer Bradley's arrival. Instantly everyone in Mustang's group saluted and bowed in respect; his subordinates moving behind him so he could speak to the Fuhrer.

"Fuhrer Bradley! It is a pleasure to see you well," Mustang said as he bowed again. When he straightened up, he could see the unsatisfied look upon the head of the military's face.

"It seems something major has just happened here, Mustang," he said while looking around at the newly created flatlands. "Please, report your findings as of the current moment."

"There were twenty-eight reported dead, sixty-seven seriously injured, and five under my command. So far, approximately seven thousand soldiers are missing. We," he said as he indicated the soldiers searching in the background, "are performing a thorough investigation into the matter."

The Fuhrer contemplated the new information for a moment, "There should be two who know all the details in that matter."

"Two?" questioned Mustang.

"The Full metal and Thunder-Blade Alchemists…The younger of the brothers may know something as well. Why were they in Lior?" the Fuhrer questioned harshly.

"We believe they were pursuing Scar," replied the Colonel.

"Why is that? Were they sent on a mission to capture Scar?"

"No. They were pursuing a nationwide search, researching alche--"

"I was informed last night by Colonel Archer," interrupted the Fuhrer, "that you had also sent in the Thunder-Blade Alchemist to be an undercover in hopes of preventing casualties during the suppression, is that correct?"

"Well, yes Fuhrer," replied Roy, "she would not be suspected to be an alchemist as much as if we had sent in an older alchemist. That, and she had never been to the city before, so there was little chance of a citizen recognizing her."

Bradley rubbed his chin slightly as he thought. "So you sent in a young alchemist, who has been recruited for less than a year, to hopefully disperse a situation that has been escalating for longer than she has been enlisted?" The group stood by silent, not wanting to interrupt the commander of the military. "Tell me one thing, Colonel. Have you received word from her? Has she reported her findings as of this moment?"

The Colonel lowered his head slightly, "No, sir. I have not heard anything from her or the search party."

"Then that settles it," Bradley said matter-of-factly, "The two went to Lior, and made contact with Scar. There have been almost seventy-five hundred casualties, both officers and soldiers, as a result of this."

"But that doesn't mean that the Elric brothers and Winry have committed a crime!" said First Lieutenant Hawkeye. Seeing the Fuhrer's reaction, Mustang placed a hand in front of her, signaling for her to desist.

"I think we should give them a chance to explain their actions," proposed the Colonel. He didn't like where the situation was heading.

"Do you plan to attend to the matter personally?" questioned Fuhrer Bradley. Seeing no reaction stating otherwise, he continued, "Fine. But if you let them slip away, you will be the one explaining their case for them." Looking over to a section of soldiers that accompanied him out to the site, he motioned for them to join the side Mustang stood on, "Please accompany them."

"According to my information," resumed Bradley, "there is a possibility that the Elric brothers and the girl are fighting together with the creatures who call themselves homunculi. Retrieve them and bring them back. If they fall into your hands, I grant you permission to pass judgment upon them." With a last bow from Mustang and his group, the Fuhrer turned around and walked off back to the headquarters.

"Colonel…" Havoc said quietly, even after Bradley was out of hearing distance. Before he could continue, Mustang began talking.

"It is as you have heard. Let's sort out the information we have on the Elric brothers' and Winry's whereabouts," he ordered before walking off to a different direction.

Silence surrounded the subordinates as the information sunk in. "Are we really going after Ed, Al, and Winry?" questioned Fury unbelievingly.

"Those are the orders," replied Hawkeye quietly, lowering her head and closing her eyes.

"But…but this was Scar's doing!" interrupted Breda, "I mean, not to mention the incident with Archer…I don't know what happened, but those kids can't…"

"They are running away," interjected Falman. "If we let them go, the Colonel will be punished."

Breda clenched his hands together in anger, "They did tell us to 'pass judgment, if they were to fall into our hands'…"

"We have to find them first," said Havoc, who had been quiet for the past few minutes. "We know the brothers are on the run, but as the Colonel said…we haven't heard anything from Winry, so who knows where she could be…"

"You don't think she was…in the city when it happened, do you?" asked Fury, lowering his head in sadness.

Havoc turned from his friends and looked over the barren land, "I sure hope not…"

"First Lieutenant Hawkeye…First Lieutenant Hawkeye!" The yelling from the side interrupted the moment between the friends as a soldier who had been searching for survivors came running up to her. He stopped when he reached the group, panting in exhaustion. Hawkeye placed her hands on his shoulders to check if he was all right; he seemed frantic with his group's discovery. A long moment later he lifted his head up and smiled in a small victory, "We found something!"

Havoc watched as a shiny chain and pendant was placed into the Lieutenant's hand, "No…It can't be…" he whispered as the group of his fellow comrades fell silent around him.

It was Winry's necklace.


	24. Chapter 24

You know…Have you guys ever, in stories that you have written, thought something made sense during the writing and editing phase, but then realize it was kind of screwy? Well, yeah…that's what happened at the end of the last chapter (facepalm). I went back and adjusted it slightly so you guys would understand what the heck I was trying to get at. This chapter was equally as difficult to write, so I hope I made this one sound decent. Posting a couple tonight because of my screw-up and because there will be a couple of non-action (well, at least in the _present_ sense…you'll see when I get there) chapters.

I also want to go ahead and apologize for the short sections. Sorry!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four 

Edward and Alphonse jumped from rock to rock as they headed down the valley into their hometown of Rizenbul. They realized that the military would most likely go their first, but Ed insisted on returning there for at least a few hours. Since Al had now been turned into the Philosopher's Stone, he knew the homunculus would soon come after them both, and he needed something from Rizenbul before he would be able to face them again.

"Al, let's hide!" Ed said suddenly as the stopped on the rocks. Edward had barely heard a noise over the sound of the loud stream next to them, and he didn't want to take any chances in being caught. The two ran a few feet into the bordering forest and looked for places to conceal themselves. Ed, finally giving up, clapped his hands and transmuted some of the earth into a camouflaged sheet to cover his brother.

"Brother?" Al questioned quietly.

"Never mind, just hide!" the older brother huffed, as he threw the cover over the suit of armor. He crouched by the edge of the woods as he watched Second Lieutenant Breda and Warrant Officer Falman walk past on the rocks.

"So what?" spouted Breda, "Isn't he only doing that for a promotion?"

"I wouldn't say that it's the only reason," replied Falman, "Didn't _he_ say it? If he lets the Elric brothers and Winry slip away, the Colonel will be held responsible for what happened in Lior!"

"Winry…" Edward said quietly to himself, "The Colonel? If that's the way things are, then it can't be helped." A sound of underbrush moving behind him caught the teen's attention. Looking over his shoulder after hearing the clicking of a loaded gun, Edward saw Second Lieutenant Havoc had one aimed towards him. Sergeant Fury stood next to him with a guilty look upon his face.

"Eh…Edward…" Fury said, trying not to look like a threat to the boy.

"It was as the Colonel predicted," said Havoc with his gun still pointed at Ed, "You used your old shortcuts to get to your hometown." Edward stood up slowly and faced the men with his head lowered. Believing he had given up, Jean lifted his aim and motioned for Edward to come closer, "Well, then. Shall we go?"

"Move…" came the boy's reply.

"Um…Edward?" came the nervous reaction from the Sergeant.

"I won't…" Edward continued as he lifted his head, "return to the military!" He lunged forward in time to hold the barrel of Havoc's gun with his automail arm. The surprised Lieutenant kept it pointing at him, but would rather not shoot him if it were necessary.

"Just try shooting," Ed spat out, "We'll see if you can pierce my automail and get away with it!"

"Edward, why!" Fury looked worried as the situation progressed.

"Just try shooting!" he yelled.

From what seemed out of nowhere a pile of earth lifted from the ground with Al's voice erupting from it, "Stop!"

The reaction surprised both officers, and Havoc, who still had the gun pointed at the older brother, accidentally pulled the trigger.

* * *

Breda and Falman heard the shot from a distance down the river, and looked at each other, knowing something was terribly wrong. They just hoped no one was hurt.

* * *

"Havoc…" Alphonse said quietly as the two brothers stared at what just happened. Jean was on his knees, cradling his right hand in his left, with blood dripping down onto the leg of his uniform. Fury sat on his knees also, holding his forehead with a hand, trying his best to stop the bleeding. The brothers stared as more blood trickled and splattered onto the ground in front of them. 

"We won't go back," Edward finally said after a moment, then ran off towards the stream. Al stayed behind a moment, contemplating what he should do. He knows they didn't need to get caught, but it was because of him that two of his friends were now injured.

"Al! Let's go!" came Edward's voice from his side.

"I'm sorry!" he apologized quickly before taking off after his brother.

Both Ed and Al ran back towards the rocks that the woods bordered on next to the stream. As they began to run downstream, Breda and Falman stepped in their way.

"Please keep quiet!" ordered Breda as he ran towards the two. Edward quickly clapped his hands together and placed one on each of the men, inflating their bodies into round balls, not harmful, but enough to keep them busy for a while.

"Edward!" yelled Falman as the two bounced like a child's play toy on the rocks, "If you have something to say, we'll listen! We aren't your enemies! Until the conclusion of this investigation, you'll be considered innocent!"

* * *

"Well, for the time being, this should do," Mustang said as he finished bandaging Havoc's hand and creating a makeshift sling for him. Breda and Falman had finally deflated by that point and joined their group; Falman helped Fury to patch the gash on his forehead. Both Breda and Hawkeye stood by a tree to stay out of the way while they talked with Major Armstrong. 

"Those two…Do they really plan on becoming our enemies?" questioned Hawkeye to no one in particular.

"We'll know…once we catch them," responded Roy as he turned around to look at his fellow companions. "You guys! Next time, don't hesitate!"

"Colonel…Um…" mumbled Havoc, "Could you grab the thing in my pocket for me?" Roy looked back and reached into the second lieutenant's front pocket to discover a pack of cigarettes and a matchbook from a local bar. Mustang looked at the items in his hand, then placed them into his own front pocket, eliciting a shocked look from his subordinate, "I'll confiscate this."

"They haven't moved that far yet," Major Armstrong finally spoke after a few moments of silence from the group.

"It's probably because he can't let Alphonse go in the water," the Colonel spoke as he stood up and walked over to where Hawkeye and the Major stood.

"It must be because of that blood seal," Armstrong thought aloud as he stroked his chin.

"Either way," Colonel Mustang said as he stretched, "Let's move out. The sooner we can catch them, the better."

* * *

Edward and Alphonse continued their way on the rocky path downstream in hopes of outrunning Mustang and his group of subordinates. They leapt from rock to rock in hopes of making faster time. Edward landed on a larger rock, and was about to launch to another one, when Al landed directly behind him. Not wanting to touch him in fear of activating the Philosopher's Stone within his brother, Ed leapt to the side quickly. 

"Brother?" Al questioned. It was hard for him to remember to stay a distance from his brother.

"Don't touch me that carelessly! We don't know what would happen if--" Edward was interrupted by a sudden aerial assault including dozens of spike-shaped boulders hurtled towards them. The two jumped out of the way and began to run down the rocky path, only to be ambushed by a half dozen soldiers hiding amongst the rocks. Thinking quickly, Edward clapped his hands and transmuted the nearby rock into a giant boulder, which rolled down the hill. Somehow both brothers were stuck on top of the boulder as it rolled, knocking the helpless soldiers out of their way. They attempted to stay on top of the large boulder until it suddenly exploded out from underneath them, and they came crashing to the ground. As the dust settled, both brothers sat on the ground as Edward coughed from the amount of dust surrounding him.

"Why are you running away?" came a commanding voice from their side. Edward and Alphonse turned around to see the Colonel and his fellow soldiers standing just mere yards away. Instead of their prior tactic, this time none of the soldiers had their weapons out, rather wanting to let the senior alchemist take care of the problem.

"So you're the ones chasing us, aren't you?" demanded Edward as he stood up and faced the Colonel, "Dogs are quick to run, if you chase them…"

"A disciplined dog won't oppose his master's orders," Mustang retorted to the younger alchemist.

"Master!"

"If not, then when did you go back to being a stray dog?" the Colonel continued, ignoring the teen's outburst.

First Lieutenant Hawkeye stepped up slightly and spoke calmly, "Please calm down, Edward. You were the one who accepted being called a dog of the military to reach your goals, weren't you?"

Warrant Officer Falman and Second Lieutenant Breda finally caught up to the group and stood on the other side of the brothers, closing off their chance for escape.

"I quit being a dog of the military…" Ed said to his superior harshly.

"Do you mean that you will return to being an obedient and powerless child?"

"Yeah…whatever!" he yelled as he lunged to the side of the river and placed his hand on a nearby rock. The water exploded around the group and soaking them, rendering the Colonel's gloves useless.

"You were too soft on that one, Colonel," he said as he looked to his brother, "Al! Let's go!" The two brothers began to run past the Colonel to continue their trek downstream.

"Major!" Mustang called out, causing Major Armstrong to step forward. He reached back and swung his fist towards a large rock, transmuting it into more spikes that were sent in the brothers' direction. The Colonel pulled the matchbook he confiscated from Havoc from his pocket and quickly lit a match, then used his alchemy to explode the rocks, sending smaller shrapnel sized pieces toward the teenagers. Unable to dodge the projectiles in time, Al quickly stepped in front of Ed and took the brunt of the rocks.

"Al!" Ed said, looking at his brother to see if there was any damage.

"I made hollows rocks, using alchemy," explained Armstrong as he stepped up next to the Colonel.

"And by heating the air within them, I set them on fire," finished Mustang. "Quite an effective assault, wasn't it?"

"Being in Ishbal must have come in handy for you…" retorted Edward.

Angered at the teen's comment, Mustang lit another match and exploded the wall of rock directly next to the boys, causing it to fall upon them. Again, his brother unable to dodge them in time, Al quickly stood next to him and tried to cover him the best he could without touching him. The dust settled again to show the boys completely surrounded by large boulders; their only way to escape would be to fight past Mustang and their friends.

Mustang walked slowly up to the boys, stopping just a few feet from them. "I have done many things I would rather not have, but was ordered to. Ishbal was one. I have killed many people; most who didn't deserve to die, but had to for what they were." He put the matchbook back into his pocket since he no longer believed the boys would pose much of a threat. They knew he could do some major damage to them, and most likely wouldn't risk the chance.

"From that time on, I swore…that even if I was ordered to, I wasn't going to obey irrational orders. That I would obtain a position where it wouldn't matter if I obeyed or not." Silence surrounded the area for moments, as everyone strained to hear what would happen. "The reason I chased after you two wasn't because of my orders. It was because you guys made me angry! Why? Why did you run away without asking for my help?"

A tense moment played out as either side didn't want to give in. Major Armstrong slowly walked up and placed a hand on Mustang's shoulder, "Elric brothers…what on earth happened?"

Alphonse believed the moment of truth was upon them as he stood up to defend himself and Edward, "Fuhrer Bradley…is a homunculus." Stunned silence filled the area, as no one in the vicinity could believe what he or she just heard.

"When you say homunculus…" Falman asked after a few tense moments, "you mean he's a 'created human'?"

"Yeah," replied Edward, "They're after the Philosopher's Stone. And they're pulling the strings in this country."

"This can't be…" Mustang uttered, still unsure whether to believe the statement or not.

"But, the Fuhrer didn't know anything about the Fifth Laboratory!" exclaimed Armstrong. "The military was being undermined from the inside!"

"But I saw it!" Al said as he took a few steps forward, "The Fuhrer had the mark of the Ouroboros!"

"You mentioned a homunculus that could change shapes…," replied the Major.

"The Fuhrer's Secretary…is a homunculus too!" Edward said as he interrupted the older alchemist.

"And if…" reasoned Lieutenant Hawkeye, "If the Fuhrer and Ms. Douglas were homunculi, what purpose would they serve? Why would they have infiltrated the military?"

A noise from in the distance startled everyone as they had been so engrossed in the conversation. Mustang looked around and sighed, "We really need to get out of here. Are you going to cooperate with us Edward? We'll be heading back to the Rockbell house so we can hide you there until we can sort out all of this new information."

Edward narrowed his eyes at the Colonel. He really didn't want to cooperate with him, but in their current predicament, he and Al didn't really have a choice. He stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, "Yeah, I guess…"

* * *

The rest of the trek didn't take very long to complete, and the group managed to get to the outskirts of Rizenbul. Everyone huddled in the bushes on the side of the road since there was a clear view down the hill to the train station. 

"The military hasn't arrived yet," commented Falman after waiting a few minutes to see if there was any movement or arriving trains.

Moments later the group spotted a blond man walking down the road that their bushes bordered on. Everyone sank lower behind them so the man wouldn't know they were there. The man seemed to be crying to himself as he continued to walk down the path.

"Hey, is that Sergeant Broche?" questioned Breda, recognizing the man.

"Geez, another pursuer?" complained Edward.

Lieutenant Hawkeye looked over to the brothers and smiled slightly, "Don't worry. He's not…" Just as Broche was about to pass by the group's bushes, she stepped out from behind them to see why he was upset. "Broche, what on earth is wrong?"

The soldiers eyes filled with more tears as painful memories came flooding back to him, "Lieutenant Ross is…Lieutenant Ross is…" he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth, so he grabbed the woman by her arm and began to walk back towards the Rockbell home. The walk wasn't very far, less than a quarter of a mile, but seemed much longer since the man wouldn't walk very fast. No matter what was said to him, he would not say exactly what was wrong with his comrade.


	25. Chapter 25

Part of this chapter comes from the series; I couldn't help but use it. When I saw the episode and what happened I couldn't stop laughing! I will most likely post three chapters tomorrow after I get home from my nighttime karate class, since the three kind of run together and I didn't want to do an novel-length chapter.

Hope you like!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five 

Back at the Rockbell house, Lieutenant Ross sat outside on the front porch with a very attractive middle-aged blond man with glasses. They conversed and ignored any and everything happening around them.

"Long ago, I saw the wings of a big eagle that were as deep a black as your hair," he said to the blushing woman. "I didn't think I would ever see such a beautiful sight again."

Ross's blush became a deeper crimson as she looked towards the ground, "Oh, my…this is too much of a compliment."

Across the road from the house Mustang and his entourage huddled behind a stone wall to watch the scene unfold before them. "One compliment and she's all over him…" cried Broche, as he took his hat in his mouth and began pulling on it in frustration.

"To think I wondered what was going on," muttered Hawkeye silently at the man's emotional outburst.

"But…who is that person with her?" Al questioned as he looked down for Edward, "Hey, brother…" He noticed Edward was not below him as he was just moments before. "Brother?" He looked up to see his brother running full-speed towards the house.

The man reached up and stroked Ross's hair gently before turning around at an angry Edward, "What the heck are you doing flirting!" Edward jumped over the railing and punched the man in the face as hard as he could with his automail hand. The force of the punch set him flying over the other side of the railing and into the grass; a large gash now jutted across his cheek.

"Edward!…" uttered a surprised-looking Lieutenant Ross.

"So you come back after more than ten years and I get to see THAT! You damn old man!" Edward yelled loudly, placing both hands on the railing in case he needed to beat his father some more.

Alphonse couldn't believe his ears, "Father?" he whispered quietly to himself. "Yes, he's just like in the pictures we had," he continued, remembering his dwindling childhood memories. He quickly threw the cover he was hiding under off of his head and began to run towards the Rockbell house. "It's him, it's really him!"

Al slowed down, as he got closer to the house. He realized since he was now a suit of armor, his father may not even recognize him at all. He finally reached his father and stood by the fallen man, "Um…You might not be able to tell because of my appearance, but I am…"

The man smiled at his child's manners, "Alphonse…You sure got tall!"  
The younger brother was surprised at his father's reactions; he was already preparing for the worst outcome, "You…recognize me?"

His father laughed lightly, and turned his head to look at his eldest son still standing on the porch, "Edward. Do you still hate milk?"

Edward screamed in anger as he came over the railing and sank his foot into his father's body, "WHO'S A SUPER SMALL BRAT YOU CAN'T SEE AND THAT DOESN'T GROW UP!"

Lieutenant Hawkeye held her forehead as she watched the scene unfold, "But he didn't say that much…"

* * *

Later that evening, as everyone was inside eating dinner, Edward's father sat outside with the Rockbell family dog, Den. He stroked the older dog's fur as he listened to the conversations that were being held inside. 

"There, that should do it!" Pinako said as she put the final stitches into Fury's and Havoc's wounds. She soaked a cotton ball in alcohol and brought it closer to the Lieutenant's hand.

"Oh, Pinako, do you really have to use that stuff? It stings so much!" he said as he backed away into a wall. The older woman kept approaching, ignoring the soldier's complaints.

"Quit being a baby! All I need is for this thing to get infected…then what I will do to you will _really_ hurt!" She looked over to see Fury laughing at his wounded companion, "Don't worry, my lad. You're next!" She saw the soldier visibly sink in his chair, hoping not to be seen. While Havoc's attention was on his friend, Pinako took her opportunity and quickly placed the soaked cotton ball on the man's wounds. A loud yelp could be heard throughout the house as tears ran down Havoc's face.

"Quit your complaining. Winry never bawled…" the older woman stopped speaking for a moment, which caught the attention of Edward; he had never known for her to _not_ talk. A moment passed, and she shook whatever she was feeling aside and continued, "That girl never bawled as much as you do, that's for sure." Edward looked around the room and saw that everyone was looking at himself and Al.

"What…Why is everyone looking at me? If it's about Winry, you can talk about her. I'm okay with it now…" he said to the group.

"Colonel," Lieutenant Hawkeye whispered to Mustang where no one would hear her. He looked over to where she sat and understood what she suggested with just the one word. He nodded and waited for a few more minutes for a new conversation to start. Finally he looked to her and nodded again, signaling her that it was time.

* * *

"Edward, Alphonse…Please come with me to discuss what is next on our agenda." 

Ed looked up from his seat to the standing Colonel and rolled his eyes. He hated it when he became formal like this in front of everyone. It made him seem all the more like a kid. He and Al stood up and followed Mustang and Hawkeye outside. Instead of talking on the porch like he had expected, the two kept walking into the dark night, towards the direction of the river.

"Um, Colonel? What's going on? Why are we going all the way out here?" question Al as he noticed they were walking away from the house. The Colonel looked over in the younger brother's direction and tried to fake a smile, but was unconvincing. The group reached the river in a period of a few minutes, and they all stood there to stare at the stars for what seemed like forever.

"I do have to admit Edward, I'm jealous…" commented Mustang after they stood to watch the blanket of stars over the sky.

Edward looked around to his younger brother, who didn't look like he knew what the Colonel was talking about either, "Why, Colonel?"

"Because you cannot find something this spectacular and beautiful within the city. All of the lights and smoke seem to drive the stars away from our region…" he replied, still looking up towards the sky.

"That's nice and all, Colonel, but what did we come out here for, a stargazing session? Are we supposed to map out our futures using the stars or something?" the elder brother joked and continued to laugh until he saw the sad expression showing on the Lieutenant's face.

"Edward…You do realize how many people were in the city of Lior when the crimson light engulfed it, am I right?" Mustang questioned his younger alchemist counterpart. Edward's face became heavy, and he lowered his head at the thought of all the deaths of those soldiers. Those soldiers now existed within the philosopher's stone; they existed within his brother's body. He could not imagine such a death falling upon anyone.

Mustang looked down to see Edward's reaction since he didn't hear a response. It pained him to do so, but he continued on. "I sent another alchemist into the city before you; Archer didn't know anything about my plans, but refused to back down unless you chose to."

"That sounds like Colonel Archer, sir," interjected Al. "He didn't seem like he would back down easily from a decision. Have you heard anything from this alchemist? Has he reported back at all?"

Silence surrounded the group as the wind gently blew by. Mustang reached into his pocket and retrieved something small, but kept it enclosed within his hand. "No, Alphonse, she hasn't reported back to us yet." Instantly he saw the look change on Edward's face as he realized what was said. The teenager looked up to him, his eyes silently pleaded with the Colonel to please tell him that he was joking; that this couldn't be true. Edward looked around frantically, and suddenly was about to take off before he heard a calming voice near him, "Edward. Please don't do that…"

Edward whirled around to see Lieutenant Hawkeye staring at him, tears brimming to the edges of her eyes. She refused to cry in front of the boys, knowing it would make the situation even worse.

"But, Colonel…" whispered Alphonse, tormented at the news of his dear friend, "Are you sure? I mean, have you checked the area thoroughly? She's gotta be there somewhere!"

Mustang walked up to Edward and kneeled down in front of him. He grabbed the teen's hand, and slowly let the tiny pendant fall into it. "We did find this while we were searching for survivors, though there has been no news on her. My men are still searching day and night for any more survivors, and word is to be brought directly to me if she is found."

Edward stared, as time seemed to slow down. The pendant seemed to hang in midair, slowly descending into his open palm. The words from the back of the snake shined brightly in the moonlight. The weight of the pendant seemed to weigh him down. He had never expected to receive the pendant back, least of all like this! Closing his hand over the pendant, Edward felt the cool metal pressing into his skin. He looked around at the people with him. He didn't want to see any of them at the moment, not even his brother. He had to get away from them all. Without notice, Edward turned and ran full speed away from the group.

"Edward! Come back!" Mustang was preparing to put his glove on to halt the boy, before he felt a large metal hand cover his arm. He looked up to see Alphonse shaking his head slightly, "Don't worry. He's not going to go back to Lior. He's heading back to the house. Look…" Al pointed in the direction Edward ran, and sure enough a small light could be seen in the distance from the outside lanterns.

* * *

"And so he said to me…'what, are you trying to cheat me or somethi—" Second Lieutenant Breda was interrupted from his story when the front door flew open, and a short blond streak ran through the room and up the stairs. "What the hell was that?" 

Pinako looked down as grief weighed heavily on her heart, "I couldn't see clearly, but I believe it was Edward. Just leave him alone for now. He needs his own time to mourn."

* * *

Edward didn't stop as he ran through the front door and up the stairs to Winry's room. Only when he had closed the door behind him was he finally able to collapse to his knees. He balled his hands into fists and slammed them into the floorboards numerous times; tears streamed down his face and sprinkled the floor. He couldn't believe what the Colonel told him. She couldn't have been in Lior at that time. There's no way! 

But the metal pressing into his hand told him otherwise. He slowly opened his hand and stared at the tiny pendant that shined within. It looked the same as the day he made it; she obviously took great care in cleaning and polishing it, much like he did with the one she had given him. Tears continued to flow down the teenager's cheeks as he clenched his hand and held it close to his heart. Deep down, he knew there was no way someone would have survived the crimson light if they had been in the middle of the city. Even Archer, who had just been on the outskirts and was barely touched by it, lost almost half of his body in the event.

Edward finally willed himself to stand up, though it took his body a few moments to cooperate. He walked around her room, looking at all the now painful reminders of their childhood together. He picked up a picture off of her nightstand, and sat down on the bed to look at it. Wiping his eyes to see clearly, he was then able to see it was a picture of him, Al, and Winry leaning on a fence. They were maybe only seven or eight years old at the time. Smiling slightly, Edward noticed that each child looked happy and safe, though just a few short years later he knew that all would change.

Edward lay back in her bed, and held the picture in front of him. Just for some reason, he couldn't believe she was gone; it just didn't feel right…He didn't want to believe it. Maybe if he didn't believe it, then it wouldn't be true. The teenager slowly reached into his pocket to retrieve the picture Winry left for him in Central. He carefully unfolded it, and sat up, cradling the pictures in his lap. He stared at the pictures for what seemed like hours, studying each detail as if he would never see them again.

Silence blanketed the room for hours as Edward sat on Winry's bed. He was hoping she would come home and yell at him for being in her room; hell, he would even be happy for once to be hit with her wrench. Tears would no longer spring to his eyes at the thought of her demise; they seemed to have dried up, though his heart continued to weep.


	26. Chapter 26

Good evening everyone! I just got home from class, though I do have to admit I didn't do anything. I've been a little sick today and thought it better not to jostle this body around and cause more havoc to happen! Nonetheless, I'm posting three chapters tonight, so I won't keep you waiting!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Brother? You've been in there for four days! You need to come out and eat something!" huffed Alphonse. Since Edward had found out about Winry's disappearance from Lior, he had kept himself shut in her room and refused to come out for anything. "Brother? Are you even listening to me?" yelled Al. He understood his brother was in tremendous pain, but starving himself was not the answer to his sorrow.

"Al?" came a tired voice from behind the locked door, "Please, just leave me alone…"

"Why?" shouted the younger brother, "So you can starve yourself to death and leave me behind too? You know, you aren't the only one who is suffering here. Not only Pinako and I, but everyone in this house loved Winry dearly…What am I supposed to do if I lose you too…" he finally whispered after receiving no response. Alphonse stood at the door for a few more minutes, and finally turned around to walk downstairs; Edward was still obviously ignoring him. Just as he was about to descend the stairs, Al heard a click, and then a small creaking noise come from Winry's bedroom. He quickly turned around to see the door open slightly, and the small form of his older brother look out.

"Brother!" Al exclaimed when he saw the state Edward was in. Dark bags made the teen's eyes appear sunken, obviously from his lack of sleep. His hair was not in its normally neat braid; it was very messy with pieces falling from it and framing Ed's face. His face appeared slightly thinner, as did his body from the recent lack of food. Both necklaces now adorned his neck.

Edward slowly opened the door more and began to step into the bright hallway, shielding his eyes from the lights. He turned as he saw Alphonse come towards him.

"Brother, look what happened to you!" he said quickly, worried for his elder brother's health, "Come downstairs right now and eat something. Auntie Pinako already has some food set out…"

Edward nodded and slowly followed his younger brother down the stairs into the kitchen. Pinako, Fury, and Havoc sat around the table drinking their morning coffee, and gasped when they saw the state of Edward as he walked into the room. Pinako quickly got up from her seat and poured the boy a glass of water, and fixed his plate for him, "Oh, Edward, look what you've done to yourself, child…"

Ed looked at his full plate and regretted having come downstairs. The thought of food made his stomach churn, though it did ease itself slightly as he took a sip of water from the glass. He remained silent as everyone watched him. Finally noticing their attention was focused on him, he glared as he spat out hoarsely, "What are you all staring at?"

"Edward…" Fury said quietly a moment later, "Have you seen what you look like? You look awful…"

"I don't care anymore…Neither should any of you…" retorted the teen. Suddenly Pinako stood up from her chair and stormed over to Edward. Without notice she raised her palm and back-handed the teen, sending him flying off of his chair.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Edward screamed as he jumped up from his position and rubbed his cheek.

"I've had enough of your childishness! Do you really think you are the only one who has to mourn her!" Pinako yelled, her finger waving dangerously close to the boy's face. "Do you honestly think the rest of us don't care that she's gone? How do you think I feel, losing not only my son and his wife, but now my only grandchild! You don't see me moping around, not eating, and wishing myself to an early grave even though I should have been the one to go before ANY of them!"

The silence blanketed the room as each individual froze at the elder woman's words. Pinako silently walked away into the kitchen and returned with some ice wrapped in a cloth. She walked up to the jittery teen who believed she would hit him again, and gently placed it where she slapped him, "And here you go, one of the two family members I have left, slowly killing your body while we sit out here and worry about you…Silly child…"

Edward gingerly took the icy cloth from her and kept it pressed against his sore face. "Anyway," Pinako spoke as she walked back to her seat and resumed drinking, "I don't think Winry would appreciate what you're doing is because of her…" she finished quietly. Ed stood there as everyone stared at each other, still trying to contemplate what just happened. He took his seat at the table again and looked over to the older woman who continued to stare at her tea, "Um…Auntie? I'm sor--"

"Don't worry, Edward. We'll just pretend this never happened. Then there's nothing to apologize for," she interrupted, lifting her head to slightly smile at the teenager. Edward understood and slowly nodded in agreement, his mouth turned in a small grin. He looked towards his food, picked up his fork, and slowly began to eat.

* * *

A short time later after eating most of his breakfast, Edward went upstairs to get a shower and change clothes. He insisted on using the bathroom in Winry's room, as he felt more comfortable when he was in her room.

A half hour passed before the teenager finally came down. He walked down the stairs while he used a towel to dry his long hair, and finally noticed who was, and wasn't, occupying the house at the moment, "Where did the Colonel and everyone else go?"

Havoc tilted his head to look at Edward as he kept his position on the couch. Covering his mouth as he yawned, he lifted his hand in front of him to see if his bandage needed changing, "He got a call from Falman at the station. Apparently an investigation group arrived earlier, and he went with Hawkeye and Breda to try and send them back to Central."

Edward smiled slightly and sat down in a nearby chair. He hissed as his muscles protested at first; their misuse over the past few days made themselves known. "Does he actually think it's all right to cover for a wanted person?"

Jean slowly shifted his body to turn towards Edward, "I don't know if he fully believes your story yet, but knowing him, he's going to want to see for himself the truth about the Fuhrer." Realizing he wasn't going to finish his nap anytime soon, he sighed and slowly sat up on the couch, stretching his arms and legs out. "Either way, we all knew an investigation team would arrive any day now. Seeing as how the three people that were wanted resided in the same small village."

Edward looked up at the soldier as he realized the third person he was mentioning was Winry, "Why would they be looking for her?"

"Well, mainly because she was sent into Lior before you were to scout the city and find out about Scar and that giant transmutation circle…"

The teenager nodded his head slightly at the information. His heart still broke each time he thought of her being inside that city as the crimson light overtook it, but he attempted to hide his emotions from everyone else now, much like he used to do. Silence overtook the room as each man looked in various places, their minds both winding around the memories they had of the same woman.

"Edward, there's also something else I want to tell you, because I don't think anyone else has told you…I know she would have wanted you to know…" Havoc could see the boy turn slightly towards where the soldier sat and looked at him with his tired eyes. "Promise me you won't run away when you find out first…"

The teenager cocked his head in confusion, but then nodded. Something told him he would not like the news he was about to receive. He could see Havoc lean forward and hold his chin in his good hand, while his other lay sorely on his lap. "Do you remember that guy that hung around her? That Chadwick guy?" He could see Ed nod in anger at obviously bad memories of the man, which may or may not be good for the conversation. "Well," continued Jean, "it ends up that it was that homunculus Envy who acted like a soldier to get closer to her. Winry and that thing got into a big battle at the shooting range, and he almost succeeded in kidnapping her." He lowered his eyes at the memory, "If we would not have shown up, I have no doubt that he would have overpowered her…"

Havoc could see the emotions that ran through the teen's face, and almost regretted telling him anything. But he wasn't done yet, "That thing also killed Maes…" Edward's eyes quickly opened at the news of his friend's death. If it wasn't one of his friends getting hurt, it was someone that he loved getting it instead. When was all of this going to stop? Is he just going to have to become a hermit, so he will never have to know anyone; and in return will never be hurt? How many more people have to die because of him?

"I uh…just thought you needed to know," continued Havoc after a few minutes of silence between the two, "I know you have a habit of running into the homunculus a lot." Jean saw the boy was taking the news better than he thought he would, which surprised him as everyone thought he would run back to Central. Maybe it had to do with what happened in Lior.

* * *

Edward slowly stood up and walked back upstairs to Winry's room a few minutes later, and quietly shut the door behind him. Even though it was early afternoon, the room remained dark since he had not opened the curtains since he found out the news those few nights ago.

Edward walked over and opened the curtains to let the light flood the room. He turned around and noticed how much cheerier the room appeared during the daytime. The sun danced throughout it, and a flash of metal from under the bed caught the teen's eye. He walked over and looked underneath her bed to find a metal box. Edward slid the box out from underneath and placed it on her bed. It seemed to be locked, and even though he knew he _shouldn't_ be looking through it, he was curious and wondered what could be hidden within.

Edward grabbed the box, headed over to the girl's window, and opened it. He saw the familiar tree they used to climb from her window to the roof, and after tying the box to his arm with some string sitting nearby, he scooted out the window and jumped to the adjacent tree. He quickly navigated upwards and soon found himself sitting in their old spot towards the front of the house. They used to hide up there when they wanted to talk, or to get away from Al when he was a toddler; he never wanted to leave their sides at that age. They would sit up there for hours, joking and talking about anything and everything, until usually Pinako would call them down, or he would see his mother come over to retrieve her children for dinner. He would sometimes sneak out of his room after dinner and come over, just so they could continue their conversations. Both of the older women knew what the two were up to, but never said anything about it.

As the sun continued to shine in the afternoon sky, Edward looked down at the box he held in his lap. He felt a little guilty for wanting to pry into Winry's obviously private thoughts, but for some reason he felt he needed to look through it; maybe it contained some answers to his questions. Even though the box was locked, Edward easily opened it using his alchemy and popped the lock open. He slowly opened the box and peeked inside. On top of what looked like a stack of pictures sat a small notebook. He carefully removed the notebook, handling it like it was a fragile piece of glass, and set the box on the roof next to him, closing the lid slightly so the wind wouldn't blow the pictures around. He opened the cover to realize Winry's handwriting was contained in most of the pages; was this what some girl's considered a diary? Edward never really understood some of the things he had heard girl's do. More curious than before, he began to read the first page:

_Winter Age 11_

_Dear Diary,_

_I've never done anything like this before. Since I really have no one to talk to, Grams suggested I write what I think down in you. That way it's almost like talking to someone. Edward has been gone almost a month now. He came back from training and left not long after that. I don't think it's very fair. Him, Al, and I used to talk all the time and now I have no one to talk to. Regan lives down the street, but she helps her family a lot with their hotel-thing. I think it's called a bed and breakfast? Anyway, I have to go fix dinner with Grams, so I guess we'll be 'talking' later!_

_P.S. I really miss Edward. I'm mad because I can't wish him a happy birthday, because he's staying at an alchemist's house to study for the state alchemy exam coming up. He won't even be here for mine coming up soon in spring, just like last year._

_Winter Age 11_

_Dear Diary,_

_I just read in the paper that Edward made it! He became a state alchemist, and the youngest one ever at that! _

_But I had to read it in the paper…_

_He couldn't call or write to tell us…_

_Has he just forgot we even existed?_

Edward felt guilty after he read the first two small pages of Winry's journal. He hadn't forgotten them, but did he? He never did write them, or even call them to tell them about his acceptance as a state alchemist. It had been so long ago; he didn't even remember _why_ had hadn't let them know anything. He lowered his head in sadness, but remembered he still had more to read. He pushed his sadness aside and continued reading her feelings and thoughts. The next few pages just mentioned everyday occurrences that happened over the next year or two. There was nothing really very exciting, which was to be expected from a small town like Rizenbul. But the entry after those would haunt him for the rest of his life.


	27. Chapter 27

Hello again! Nothing new, so keep reading!

Though I do have a scary thought. After this chapter, I will only have ten more chapters to go! It kind of makes me sad, though I think the story wraps up nicely. And hell if you think about it, it's almost a quarter of the story to begin with, so it _can't_ be that small!

Enjoy…

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven 

_Spring Age 13_

_This entry is kind of late, but I find it is important enough to write down in here. At least that way, if there are any questions, I can come back and read all of the details of what occurred. A week ago, something happened in my house that changed my life. I had come home from the market; we had to stock up on supplies, but it wasn't so much that I needed someone to help me. The house was quiet when I came back in, which was weird, because even if no one is home when I come in, you can still hear the birds chirping outside. I carried my bags in and set them on the kitchen table, and saw a note Grams had left saying she took Den with her to go check on one of our clients. Mr. Sampson had been having some problems with his leg and wanted her to come look at it. Noticing the time (around 5pm), I decided to start dinner and have it ready for Grams when she came home. I know it's hard for her to travel, as she gets older in age, so I wanted her to relax. _

_Anyway, I moved the bag of equipment from the kitchen table to the workshop, and came back down to fix dinner. I put some chicken into the defroster to thaw out enough so I could cook it, and took out some vegetables to make our salad. I had placed a pot of water on the stove so I could boil some pasta as the chicken cooked. I was dicing some carrots and cucumbers when I heard the front door open and close. I didn't even look up when I yelled a greeting to Grams and Den, but thought it weird that I didn't get a response. I wiped my hands on my pants and walked to where the kitchen meets the dining room, and yelled out my greeting again. And again I was met with silence. I don't know why, but I reached over and grabbed both of the knives I was chopping with. Not that it would do any good—I remember thinking that to myself. I had never had any type of training when it came to fighting. All I knew how to do was build automail._

_With a knife in each hand, I slowly crept through the dining room to look into the front hall. I can still remember the fear that crawled though my skin, I could almost feel myself shaking. Slowly I peeked around the corner to see what was in the front hall._

_And all I saw was nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary. I can remember laughing out loud to myself, getting worked up over nothing, but then stopped when I heard some movement above me. The fear returned yet again. I loudly yelled out for whoever it was to come downstairs. Maybe Grams had just gone upstairs when she got home and didn't hear me the first two times. The movement stopped, and when I didn't hear a response answer back I quickly walked to the bottom of the stairs again and, with the knives behind my back, yelled again for whoever it was to come downstairs._

_I thought I would keel over from joy when I saw Edward appear at the top of the stairs! He must have not heard me at all! He slowly walked down the stairs and smiled at me, causing me to quickly drop my knives and jump into his arms in joy. I hadn't seen him in so long!_

* * *

Edward was confused as he read the last few sentences over a few times. At this time he hadn't seen Winry after the Barry the Chopper incident. But with how this entry was dated, it wouldn't have been too far long after that. Dread filled Edward as he realized what entry he might be reading, and continued:

* * *

_He seemed kind of surprised that I gave him such a big hug, and for a second I thought that maybe I might have startled him. I quickly let go of him and smiled a lot. I remember feeling really happy that he was home, because I had not seen him in a few months. I went to Central a little while ago, and got mixed up with him in the Barry the Chopper incident, and hadn't seen or heard from him after I came back home. I just looked through the last few pages and realized I never wrote about it. Maybe I'll get to it a little later on when I'm feeling better._

_After seeing it was just Edward, I happily walked back into the kitchen and pulled out some more vegetables out for the salad. I stood there and began dicing and chopping again, and saw him walk around the dining room looking at everything, like it had been the first time he'd seen all the pictures on the walls. I didn't think much of it at first, because I thought maybe he was just reminiscing or something. Anyway, he came into the kitchen and stared at me while I finished cutting the vegetables and placed the knives on the counter. I remember blushing as I saw him staring at me from the corner of my eyes. His eyes had always fascinated me; it seemed like they could look straight through to your soul. _

_I asked him where Alphonse was, seeing that he was usually right with Edward wherever he went. The question seemed to make him mad or something because at that moment he lunged forward and grabbed my wrists. I dropped my bowl that had the vegetables in it, and they scattered all over the floor. I remember yelling at him, asking him what the hell he was doing, but his grip never loosened. His eyes bore through my body, they were narrowed and he looked very mad about something. Then I heard him mutter something about having to go, and he started to drag me towards the front door. I thought he was joking or trying to play a prank, and I pulled my wrists away from him. He turned his head towards me and jumped at me, pushing me against the stove. I remember hitting the small of my back against the corner of the stove, and I felt pain go all the way up to my neck from the force of me hitting it. Some of the water that was boiling in the pot spilled over, and it also splashed on my back. I yelled from all of the pain I felt, and for the first time, felt scared. I never thought Edward would do anything to hurt me._

_I don't know what had gotten into him, but I knew that I needed to get away from him, and figure out what was wrong. I reached behind me, grabbing the pot of water, and slung it towards him. I feared I would hurt him, but at the moment I knew I needed to get away, and the only way would be to go through him into the dining room. He shielded himself as best he could from the water, and I heard his screams of pain from the boiling water, but I quickly dodged and grabbed both knives as I ran past him into the dining room. _

_When I got into the next room I turned around and slowly backed myself towards the front hall, that way I could still keep an eye on him. What walked out of the doorway surprised me. Edward walked to the doorway, and I could see all of these red welts from where the boiling water burned him, but then a light engulfed him, and I saw him transform right before my eyes into something else. The thing looked like a tall, skinny man with long, spiky black hair. He had a short, black tank top and shorts on, and on his weird-looking headband rested a strange symbol. He was covered in the same welts that Edward had just moments ago, but before my eyes they began to heal!_

_I don't know what happened next. I think he may have charged while I was staring at him bewildered, but somehow he had my wrists again and knocked the knives to the floor. I remember trying not to cry, I didn't want to let him know that I was scared, but I think he could 'taste' it (even though that sounds really weird, it seemed like the right word). He seemed really happy to see me as scared as I was. He pushed me against the wall of the dining room that was close to the front hall. If only I could get away from him, I remember thinking, I could get out the front door, but no matter how hard I struggled his grip would just tighten more and more. From out of nowhere, I felt something wrap around my wrists and pulled them behind my back. I don't think I could even explain it to this day. Keeping a hand on the wall next to my head, his other hand turned into a blade of some kind that he happily held towards my neck. He said something about I should feel the pain he just did, and plunged it into my left arm near my elbow. I screamed out in pain, and he quickly covered my mouth with his other hand._

_Suddenly, a female voice came from the front hall, which startled both of us. I tried to whimper or do anything to let the person know I was in trouble, but what she said still echoes in my head. She said that they "still needed her later on, so don't damage her…"._

_I didn't know what she meant, but I knew I still needed to get away any way I could. As a last resort, I bit down hard on the hand that covered my mouth, which made the man-thing in front of me scream. His hand pulled away from my mouth, but before I could bolt from my spot, it came back around and hit me on my face very hard. I remember it was hard enough to knock me to the ground, and it was difficult to see because I had hit my head on the floor when I landed. I tried to get up, but was unable to. A moment later I felt myself being dragged towards what I thought was the front hall, and for a split second thought maybe I was saved by a miracle._

_Instead I was thrown onto the floor in the front hall. Someone had drawn within the last half an hour or so a large circle – one of those things that alchemists use. From my position in the middle of it, it appeared very intricate and somewhat beautiful. I tried to look toward the front door, but the light shining through the doorway prevented me from seeing exactly who was there. I just heard her voice tell the other thing to stand back. After that I blacked out._

_What happened next logically seemed like a dream, but deep down inside it feels so very real. I woke up and was surrounded by white. The space seemed to stretch out for miles in white. I slowly pushed myself up with my arms and kneeled, feeling my body aches from the different injuries I had just received. I glanced around at the white area, and turned around to see a huge looming gate behind me. I saw all sorts of different ornate carvings and symbols adorning it, and for a split second thought it seemed kind of pretty. I slowly stood up and faced the large gate. Fear slowly crawled again through my body, and my instincts told me to run, but my mind didn't know where TO run. _

_The doors to the gate slowly began to open, and my fear grew. Behind the open gate was nothing but black space, opposite of what surrounded me at the moment. My head began to hurt tremendously, like someone was pushing tons upon tons of information into my brain. Weird pictures appeared before my eyes, and for a moment I felt like I knew everything there was to know in the world. But then suddenly, what seemed like dozens of eyes opened within the darkness. Some appeared small, while others looked like they could be the size of an entire human. But…Those eyes…those piercing blue eyes kept looking at me. I remember nervously looking around again to see that still the white surrounded me._

_I wanted to turn and run, but my legs would not listen to me. What exactly was I doing here? Where WAS here? All of my questions remained unanswered as those damn eyes kept starting at me. Small, sinister smiles began to appear out of the black emptiness behind the doors of the gate. I remember yelling at them, telling them to go away. But those eyes kept staring at me, their smiles growing more evil. I looked up and noticed the doors of the gate again. Maybe if I could close the doors, then those things would leave me alone and let me go back home. It seemed like a long shot, but I had to try._

_I summoned all the courage I could, and overcame my stillness to slowly walk up the stairs to the doors of the huge gate. I grabbed one large door and dragged it almost to the center, then walked over to the other door and did the same thing. Just as I was about to totally close them I heard some weird laughter, and stared in shock, as it seemed the blackness from beyond the gate began to creep towards me. I pushed the doors harder, hoping to close them before the blackness reached me. Just before I was able to close the doors, I felt something slam into my back, which pushed me almost into the gate. The moment I was pushed, dozens of black tentacles shot out from the never-ending darkness and grabbed me, threatening to swallow me whole. They wrapped all around me, on my arms and legs, some even around my stomach, and began to pull me in. I pulled against them with all the energy I could, and started to make some progress as I inched away from the blackness. I looked down as I struggled and saw many tiny forms appear all over me. Sharp pain shot through my entire body as they ate and scratched at anything they could touch. I screamed my lungs out, hoping someone would hear me, but I knew no one would come._

_The pain continued as the small things still covered me. I could feel parts of my skin and some of my muscles being torn to shreds. A moment later I could heard the sickening snap and crunching sound as my left arm was ripped from my body. I fell back at the shock of losing my arm and landed on what was left of my shoulder. I kicked and screamed as I fought these demons, and eventually wriggled my right arm loose from them. With my remaining arm and body weight, I fought and kicked harder to get away from the blackness. I got my left leg loose, and planted it on the ground and pushed with all the strength I had left. I was released as I could feel my right leg face the same fate as my left arm. I landed in a pool of my own blood and tears before the towering gate. I looked up and all I could see was the darkness behind the doors, those eyes were staring at me again. It was as if they wanted another chance to tear my other limbs from me. Out of nowhere I heard a creaking sound, and the doors began to close on their own, finally shutting off the darkness from me._

_Looking around, my body in shock, I realized I was still in the middle of nothingness. I cried from the excruciating pain I was feeling, and despite all of that, began to pull myself farther away from the looming gate. Looking back, I could see the blood that trailed behind me. I didn't know where I was still, but knew that I needed to get first aid or else I could bleed to death; but I didn't know where to start. I tried a moment later to pull myself away some more, but realized I wasn't strong enough to do so at that point. Defeated, I hugged myself with my remaining arm and remember wearily calling for help. All I could hear was the echoing sound of my pleas into the nothingness as more blood pooled around me._

_I remember waking up what seemed like moments later, with Grams standing over me worriedly. I had been asleep for over a week, not moving or anything. She said that she found me when she came home from Mr. Sampson's house. I was lying in the front hall with blood everywhere, and was in the same sort of transmutation circle thing that I had remembered. I told her everything I remembered, and she seemed very upset. I remember her hugging me tightly, though being careful not to touch my injuries. I weakly looked over and saw what was left of my shoulder, and realized that none of it was a dream. Not long after the silence settled, I asked Grams if she could get me hooked up with some automail. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life unable to take care of myself_.

_So here I am, waiting for her to finish my automail limbs. Grams mentioned that I should write everything down in case I forget any of it, but I would rather forget it ever happened. She said she took pictures of the house where everything happened, and a lot of me to keep records of my injuries. She called one of her old associates from the city to come and help perform the surgeries that I need to equip me with the bases for the automail limbs. He is here right now in fact, since he came right over after the incident. She knew she was going to need some help to keep me alive, and he took some pictures then of how I looked. In a week or so after the bases begin to heal, I can attach the limbs. I know it will be painful, I was there when Edward…when Edward had his done and saw how much pain he was in, but I'm willing to deal with it._

_I still, to this day, am wondering who did this to me. I know it wasn't Edward, but what will happen the next time I see him? Will I automatically react like it WAS him that did it? I'm worried about him. I haven't heard from him since I went to Central Headquarters._

_I hope he's all right…_

_Well, I guess that's all for now. Writing all of this, and remembering what all happened again has worn me out. I'll write more later…_

_I'm just glad to be alive._


	28. Chapter 28

Last one for tonight, folks. I swear this will be the last flashback/diary chapter. I don't know why, but I felt it was kind of necessary to explain everything from her point of view. Who knows…maybe this will bomb. But I can trust you guys to tell me! Oh, and another thing. If you think the (insert word for warm, squishy substance) has hit the fan already in this story, just wait until you read after this one. (attempts to push horns back into head AGAIN)

Hope you like!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Edward stared at the pages he just read; a first-hand account of what really happened to his beloved friend. He could feel the tears forming behind his eyes, and tried desperately not to let them fall, but found it extremely difficult. He remembered his time at the gate, when he and Alphonse tried to resurrect their mother. He remembers the same pain she went through as his limbs were taken for payment. But why did she have to go through that? It wasn't like she was trying to perform a human transmutation or anything! Why did those homunculus have to do this to her? The description of the man who looked like himself perfectly described Envy, one of the homunculus that had tried to harm him and his brother. Anger surged through the teenager's body as he could see her story in his head, seeing her pain and panic as she was being eaten by the darkness. He took his hand and hit it against the roof in frustration. The force knocked the lid of the box back open, revealing some of the pictures Edward had ignored earlier.

Placing the book on the roof next to him, Edward picked up the pictures and flipped through them. There were a few that contained him, Al, and Winry when they were children. After that came the gruesome images that Pinako had captured. He saw the place in the front hall where the transmutation circle had been drawn. That exact circle had also been in the Fifth Laboratory when he was almost forced to transmute the prisoners into the Philosopher's Stone. He flipped through some more to find the aftermath of the incident, before Pinako was able to fully stitch the girl up. Someone else, probably the colleague who was mentioned in the prior entry, had to have held the camera while Pinako worked, but either way you could clearly see the destruction that happened to her poor body.

Edward felt helpless, and even though it happened a few years ago, he wished he could have been there to help. He never wanted anything to happen to the two women who lived here; that's why he and Al wouldn't visit unless it was necessary, and then would leave shortly after. He was constantly afraid that someone would try to harm them to get to Edward, and it happened. But for some reason, the teen felt that it didn't happen because of him. From what he read, the homunculus did this for a totally different reason. But homunculus weren't supposed to able to use alchemy! The only exception that he had seen so far was Wrath, but he came after all of this had happened. Someone had to be controlling and helping the homunculus, and Edward desperately wanted to know who was behind it.

Edward continued to flip through the pictures until he came across some that struck him as odd. In it, Winry was getting her base of her left arm totally reworked. What caught him off guard was not only Pinako working on her arm, but Second Lieutenant Havoc was holding Winry's other hand in comfort as the girl was obviously in a lot of pain. Confusion filled the teen's head, until he forgot that she had to get her arm re-worked a while ago after their battle with Scar. Havoc and someone else must have escorted her to Central. He looked through the last of the pictures, which were also of the repairs to her arm, and placed the pile back into the box gently. Edward brought his knees up to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them, looking off towards the mountains. The sun was still high in the sky, but Edward knew in just an hour or so it would begin its descent behind the mountains.

A slight wind suddenly blew the cover open on Winry's journal, and Edward reacted quickly to prevent it from being blown off the roof. He opened the pages back to where he left off and continued to read the remaining entries.

* * *

Summer Age 16 

_I know I haven't written in here since the incident when I was thirteen. I was almost scared to, because every time I would open it to the next clean sheet, I would read part of what happened which kind of freaked me out. That was enough to prevent me to write, or get anywhere near this journal. I'm okay with everything now. I've learned to accept what challenges have been given to me. Here's a recap as to what has happened this last year or so:_

_After the incident a few years ago, and after I got automail I would think more and more of Edward. I still had not heard anything from him since the Barry the Chopper incident (which I still have not written in here of course…sigh) in Central. I get more worried about him and Alphonse everyday. I began to study alchemy just as a way to pass time, but I could already hear Edward's voice in my head telling me not to. For some reason, I felt like I knew a lot about alchemy, but just couldn't quite recall any of it. It's like you're trying to remember something, and it's on the tip of your tongue. So close, and yet so far away. Could the gate I saw in my accident have anything to do with that? Anyway, I went downtown to the small library we have here in Rizenbul and checked out a few books on alchemy and began to read them, and surprisingly found that I liked to read about it, whereas I didn't when I was younger. After awhile I tried to transmute some things, and had some success and some failures, but realized that the more I practiced the more I would get better._

_Grams noticed my new hobby and suggested I study it some more, if I found it so interesting. I don't think she realized how far I would take my new 'hobby'. One night, as I sat on the roof in Edward's and my spot I stared at the stars and thought about everything that had happened over the past few years. The bookkeeper downtown laughed and called it 'cute' that a girl had an interest in alchemy. And for some reason that statement angered me. Why couldn't a woman think alchemy would be interesting? I got much of the same reaction when people around town found out what I was studying. That night as I sat on the roof, I realized I wanted to become a state alchemist. If I honed and perfected my skills, I could really help some people. And also I soon discovered, as I practiced, that I didn't need to draw a circle like many people need to, which may give me an advantage. _

_I convinced Grams to go let me search for Edward and Alphonse's sensei. At first she was apprehensive, but then I think she realized I would go whether she wanted me to or not. It didn't take long to find her. She was in a small city called Dublith; I remember Edward mentioning it once or twice. When I told her I was coming to learn more about alchemy in order to become a state alchemist, she refused to teach me. I stayed where I sat in her dining room, and at first I thought she would physically throw me out of her house, but I again pleaded with her to teach me. I explained to her everything that had happened, and that I had seen. I begged again, and finally after what seemed like forever she gave in and agreed._

_After a year of training (both alchemy and martial arts) I came back to Rizenbul, which is good timing because I got there right before Edward and Alphonse showed up. I didn't react like I thought I may when I first saw him, but I wasn't all hugging him and jumping up and down like I may have been had he shown up before the 'accident' happened. I kept my arms and legs covered in long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, and pants, and would also wear gloves. Of course they would have to show up though in the middle of summer; I thought I would die of heat exhaustion. Why did I cover myself up and hide what happened to me? I still ask myself that, but I don't really know. I thought maybe he might see me as a weak little girl if he found out what happened; that I wasn't able to defend myself. I thought maybe he would be angry that I didn't tell him right away, but I didn't want to bug him with this. He was off being a busy state alchemist. That, and he and Alphonse were still looking for ways to return their bodies back to normal._

_So here I am, the evening after Edward and Alphonse departure. I'm sitting on the roof as usual, looking at the stars every once in awhile as I write this. Tomorrow, I leave to travel to Central so I can take the state alchemist's exam. I hope I make it. I don't want all of this studying and pain (sensei can be rough sometimes!) to be for nothing…_

_Wish me luck!_

* * *

Edward couldn't believe how hard Winry would be on herself sometimes. He didn't understand why she would even think he wouldn't like her because of the incident that happened. It wasn't her fault that she was attacked! Even he can't fight the homunculus sometimes! Hell, look at the Fifth Laboratory incident. He almost gave in and sacrificed those prisoners so the homunculus would leave his brother alone. Edward sighed to himself as he saw one more journal entry:Fall Age 16 

_Here I am again, Diary…It's been awhile (as usual), but I actually have a good reason for not writing. I was smart and forgot to pack you the night I last wrote in you. So you've been cooped up here for a few months. Sorry._

_I'm back at Rizenbul again. My life has been turned around and thrown upside down a few times, and I'm still trying to regain some control. I passed the state alchemist exam and was the first woman in history to become a state alchemist, so that's kind of cool. I've already been sent on a few missions, and have been pretty good at them. I've stopped some bad people and helped people in return; basically what I became an alchemist for. I received a lot of flak from some of the soldiers, and even Edward was surprised/upset/mad at me at first, but I think he's over it now. He said he's not mad or anything that I didn't show him what happened to my arm and leg sooner, though he seemed pretty upset about it._

_Anyway, I didn't stop by just to write in you. I came back here since my arm is pretty busted up…I mean…let me rephrase that…_

_It's more like missing. Edward, Alphonse, and I got into a battle with Scar, and even though we all survived (though he escaped), each of us received major injuries. I feel like a train has run over me a couple of times. Gram's putting the finishing touches on my new arm (it's a spare she made, but she's having to make some adjustments), and we'll be underway to repair the base on my shoulder soon. I'm not looking forward to it whatsoever. Probably tomorrow, though, I'm going to go over to Regan's and spend a few days with her, along with Havoc and Fury who accompanied me to Rizenbul. I have a bad feeling that Edward and Alphonse are going to stop by here on the way back to Central, and I don't want to see him._

_What happened, you might ask? Well, we've become closer recently, and even during our battle with Scar he risked his life to help me. I came pretty close to dying, and he kind of went berserk. I woke up before he did when we were in the hospital ward, and Al told me everything that happened during the fight that I wasn't able to see anything. I also found out that, instead of reading books on the philosopher's stone, he had been reading books on automail instead. He was trying to find a way to make changing limbs less painful…because of me…_

_I love both of those boys sooooo much, and I want them to get their bodies back. I don't want to be the one that stands in the way of them and their goal. I know it is going to hurt both Edward and myself (it hurts right now…and not just from my injuries), but I want him to be successful. I told Alphonse that I was coming back here to fix my arm, but not to tell Edward. After my arm is fixed, I'm going back to Mustang and find out where my next mission will be. _

_I love Edward…that's why I have to do this…Is love supposed to hurt this much? _

_I am also going to ask Mustang if I can do my own research on the philosopher's stone. Maybe I can uncover some information they have not been able to find out as of yet. I just hope, that when Edward completes his task, that he won't forget about me._

_I feel kind of selfish for doing all of this, but deep down, I feel that it's right. Like I said before, it's going to hurt like crazy, and there will be times that I want to give in and go running to him. But I refuse to stand in the way._

_I don't see why people are so excited about love…it hurts too much…_

_On another note, I don't know when the next time I will be able to write in you, diary. I am going to leave you here, because I don't think I'll have a lot of time to write once I go back to Central for my next assignment. I may just leave you here, and write whenever I get a chance to come back; kind of like a big review each time I write. I have a feeling though, especially since I'm going to be researching the philosopher's stone as well, that I may not get a chance to come back here. Being a state alchemist isn't exactly as safe as a desk job, you know. Hell, for all I know, this may be my last entry. But I can't sit here and hide for the rest of my life. I am a state alchemist, and I'm not going to be taken out within my first year!_

_I wonder how Edward is doing right now…I just want to hug him right now, to have him hold me. I think I would feel really safe in his arms…I can't believe I just wrote that…I'm glad that I hide you in the box underneath my bed…I would just die if he or anyone else read all of this!_

_Oh, well, I guess this is it for now…_

* * *

Edward couldn't control the small stream of tears that fell down his face. He knew how she felt for him, but this solidified it; it was almost like she was there telling him right then. She really did love him, and now she's no longer here. He couldn't protect her anymore…He couldn't hold her like she wanted. Edward quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and placed the notebook back into the box and locked it again. He wrapped his arms around his legs again and looked towards the now-setting sun. They used to enjoy sitting up here and watching the sunset, but now she was no longer able to. Anger and sorrow flowed throughout him. He didn't know what to feel anymore…He just knew that he needed to finish his task. That would involve fighting those damn homunculi, though maybe it might ease his pain. Even though he could no longer be with Winry, at least he would know she would be happy to find out they got their bodies back.

Edward quickly wiped his eyes again, and after grabbing the box, jumped down to the balcony below him. He quietly walked back to Winry's room and placed the box in its former resting place, and walked downstairs. The Colonel and his entourage were eating dinner with Auntie Pinako while Al sat to the side and listened to the conversation.

"Edward," called the Colonel, "There you are…We didn't think you were going to come out of the room again. I was about to send your brother up to retrieve you." Mustang saw Edward stop and look at him with his hard, golden eyes. He looked upset, which was to be expected, but it also seemed something else flamed underneath his sorrow. "What's wrong?" Mustang asked.

"Nothing, Al, Auntie…I'll be back…There's something I have to do alone…" muttered Edward as he walked towards the front door. He stopped in the front hallway and looked down to where her attack had happened. It was almost like he could see her body lying there in a pool of her own blood. Pinako looked over to see the boy shaking his head before walking through the front door.

Mustang looked from where Edward stood at the door moments earlier back to the elder woman, "What do you think has gotten into him?"

"I don't know," Pinako replied, "But I do believe we have our Edward back."

* * *

Edward kneeled before his mother's grave. The earth that had covered her and protected her was now moved to either side of her headstone. "I'm sorry, mother…" he said as he held a small bone from her body close to him, "Please forgive me…" 


	29. Chapter 29

Hey guys! Ready for another round? I noticed I am now over 100 reviews, which is GREAT! I'll be posting chapters throughout the weekend, most likely one a day (or more if I'm nice). I don't want to rush through the rest of this story too much though. The next four or so chapters are pretty thick (not word-wise for the most part, but content-wise), and I don't want to overwhelm anyone. But I will be posting regularly. Anyways, thanks again Indome, for pointing out my mistake. I reread the end of the last chapter and changed a few words, so it didn't sound like Edward was walking around with an entire legbone or something. Though that _would_ make for an interesting plot twist…hmmmmm….nah. I'm not _that_ bad!

I do want to make one apology ahead of time. The first section of this chapter basically sums up a couple of episodes, as I did not want you to be put through a bunch of boring detail that didn't include Winry (you know sometimes I get the feeling you want her to show up again, eh?), so it may be confusing. I promise I tried to make it as un-confusing as possible, but I don't know how good I was at it. Gomen!

Anyways…on with the show!

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Things had not gone as planned as Edward would have liked them to. He and Alphonse left Rizenbul early the morning after he had read Winry's diary. The two were spotted as the train was stopped to inspect for the brothers, and they narrowly escaped. Ed and Al rented out a room that was close to the forests that held Dante's mansion; Edward wanted to return there to see if he could find some more information on the Philosopher's Stone and also the homunculi. Before leaving the Rockbell house, a strange phone call came one day and Pinako was asked to give Alphonse a number to call. During the time Edward was gone from the hotel room, Alphonse used a phone just outside and dialed the number. He was told to come to an abandoned factory on the outskirts of town if he wanted to learn how to use the Philosopher's Stone he harbored within his body. Alphonse felt the phone call was strange, but decided to go to the warehouse while Edward had gone to investigate the mansion.

Edward came back to their room later to find the window smashed in and glass covering the floor. Moments later, he was attacked by the homunculi Lust and Wrath, who broke off his metal forearm and absorbed it into his body. Edward quickly realized he was not going to be able to defeat the two at the moment, so he jumped out the window and landed in the alley below. Both of the homunculus followed him outside. Wrath became angry when Lust asked Edward once again, that if he had the Philosopher's Stone, would he make them into humans. He attacked Lust and made her impale her weakness, a charm that had been given to her lover in her former life. Edward quickly helped her as best he could, and removed the trinket from her sight. She quickly impaled and stabbed Wrath, appearing to have killed him. Lust warned Edward, as they ran to the abandoned factory she knew Alphonse would be at, that Sloth (the homunculus that was created from Ed and Al's failed transmutation) was after his brother.

"Wait! Wait…" Edward yelled to her as they continued to run towards the abandoned factory, "I didn't promise you…To make you human…"

"Why…" Lust asked irritably as she stopped, not turning to face the teenager.

"I should be the one asking! Why do you want to become human? You guys are immortal and don't age…And I don't know why, but you seem to be having a lot of fun living like you do…Even so…Why do you want to become a human again?"

The homunculus paused for a moment before turning around to face Edward, "You say such cruel things. Then, why do you want your brother to return to his original body?" She saw the surprised reaction, then the realization of her words sink into the boy's head. "It's the same thing," she said before walking away towards the factory.

* * *

A few more minutes passed before the two arrived at the abandoned building. Edward looked around and found some old gun cartridges, and he quickly transmuted them into a makeshift arm, since Wrath broke his automail arm not long ago. He stood up and flexed it; it wasn't nearly as good as the automail he was used to, but it would be sufficient for now.

As he finished inspecting his work, he heard a door creak, and looked up to see his brother and the homunculus that looked like his deceased mother walk from a stairway leading from underneath the factory.

"Homunculus…" Edward growled, "Let go of Al!"

Alphonse looked from his brother to the person beside him, "But brother, this person is…"

"Yeah, I know…She fooled me too," interrupted Edward. "But she's not our mother…"

"I also understand, but--"

"No matter how much she looks like her," Edward continued, not letting his brother speak, "she has no soul!"

Sloth pretended to have a hurt look on her face as she looked towards the elder brother, "That is such a terrible thing to say, Edward…"

Edward heard some shuffling behind his brother and Sloth, and soon saw the man he used to know as Shou Tucker walk up behind them. Ever since he was arrested for transmuting his daughter, Nina, and her dog Alexander into a chimera, the military hid him below in the Fifth Laboratory and turned the man into a chimera himself.

"Please, Al!" came his raspy voice as he slowly walked up to Alphonse and reached for him.

"Tucker?" Edward questioned, as he was still surprised to find him here, "So it was you who deliberately called Al here by himself!" He stopped talking as he noticed the crimson light inside Al, the light from the Philosopher's Stone, was not as bright as it once was.

"The Law of Conservation…When we used the Philosopher's Stone, this is what happened," Al said guiltily. Tucker had been attempting ever since his daughter's death to revive her by using the Philosopher's Stone, not caring whether it was real or fake. He craved the power that could return some of his memory into the soulless dolls he produced, in hopes of creating another daughter.

Edward stared at his brother and became angry, "Tucker talked you into doing that…Dammit…" He talked to himself as he held a fist close to his body, "The number of people I must beat to a pulp after this has grown too big…If I don't write them down, I'm gonna forget them! Oh, well. For now Al, come here with me…"

"He can't, Edward," replied Sloth.

"Are you gonna return Al to normal?" questioned Edward as he glared at her, knowing full well what the answer was, "Or do you plan on having the person who controls all of you use what remains of Al's body?"

Edward quickly transmuted his automail arm into a large gun, and after yelling at his brother to move, began shooting dozens of bullets towards Sloth's direction. The homunculus quickly turned to water to let the bullets fly through her, and as gravity took hold, melted into a puddle onto the floor. Alphonse quickly regained his feet and ran in front of the homunculus to protect her.

"Brother! Stop it!" the younger sibling yelled.

"Al, get out of the way!"

From the puddle of water rose the homunculus's head, "It hurts, Edward," she said as her body began to take shape again.

"I know," he sneered as his hand returned to its previous state, "that you won't die like that!" Edward quickly began to run the other way, prompting the homunculus to chase him. It wasn't long before she stretched out her watery arms and wrapped them around the teenager, preventing him from escaping.

"Please, don't run," she said calmly. She began to pull the teenager closer to her when she looked down, and realized she was standing in a giant transmutation circle. "That is…"

"This is the alchemy array that was drawn when I killed Greed in Dante's house a while back," Edward stated as he turned to look at Sloth, "This must be something to seal homunculi, right!"

"You are quite brilliant," Sloth said, somewhat impressed, "But that alone won't be enough."

"I know," replied Edward. "The homunculi's only weakness…A part of the body whose failed transmutation created you!" He quickly reached inside his coat and whipped around to shove the small box he retrieved into the homunculus's chest.

"Brother! That is…"

"A remnant from the body whose transmutation gave birth to this homunculus," replied Edward, as Sloth gasped and began to melt into a puddle on the ground.

"Mom…"Alphonse muttered, "Brother, don't tell me you…Our mother's grave!"

"It was enough that I did this alone!" yelled Edward.

* * *

The liquefied form of Sloth began to move throughout the circle, trying her best to escape the seal. Watery hands attempted to wipe off part of the transmutation circle, but with no luck.

"It's pointless, Sloth," commented Lust as she walked from behind some of the machinery, "Even if you do that, the alchemy array won't disappear." She extended some of her claws to emphasize her next point, "It was etched in deeply, with my claws…"

"Thanks," said Edward as he threw the small trinket that used to belong to Lust towards her. Before it reached her she quickly closed her eyes and batted it away with her claws, "I didn't do it because I wanted that thing."

"Why are you betraying that person?" questioned Sloth, the watery substance forming to make her head appear from the floor.

"Sloth, don't you remember anything?" Lust said as she walked closer to the circle.

"What are you talking about?" questioned Edward.

"I remember. Even if it is only a little," Lust slowly said as she lifted her head to look through some of the holes in the ceiling. "We weren't supposed to have memories. It might simply be that the memories of the dead were etched in my mind. But…Even so, I have memories. I was…a woman from Ishbal," she said as she turned her head down to Sloth. "If the memories from before you were born were to surface…Then you would have a glimpse of hell!"

Alphonse startled everyone when he suddenly ran from his spot towards the alchemy array. He quickly grabbed the box that contained the fragments of his mother's corpse and threw it through one of the nearby windows, releasing her from the seal.

"Al! What are you doing!" Edward said as he began to run outside. Alphonse quickly stuck out his hand and knocked his brother to the ground, "Brother! You can't do this with our mother's body!"

"Al," Edward said bewildered, "If we don't defeat them, then they'll chase you forever!"

"But if she was stopped by this," the younger brother said as he looked towards Sloth. She had regained her human form and kneeled in the circle, regurgitating pieces of red stone, "then that means…we created her back then."

"Al!" Edward exclaimed as he stood up, "She's a homunculus!"

"Homunculi are born through a failed human transmutation," Alphonse interrupted. "But even if they don't have a soul…"

"I beg of you, Al!"

"But we created that person!"

"That's right!" Edward tried to explain, "That is why we must give her death!"

"We can't!"

Lust, growing weary of the feuding brothers, walked closer to Sloth, "Then, I shall do it," she said calmly as she stretched her claws out. Sloth, still in her human form, weakly reached an arm for the two brothers, her eyes pleading with them to let her go. Before Alphonse could react, Lust quickly slashed through her fellow comrade, reducing her to the watery form once more.

"Go back and get it, fullmetal boy," stated Lust as the form of Sloth began to shape again, "the seal is not yet complete."

* * *

Without another word from the homunculus, Edward turned and ran outside to retrieve the box that held the piece of his mother's body. Running out into the sunlight, Edward shielded his eyes and began to look around for the small box. Off to his right, he could see the homunculus Wrath picking up a small object.

"You were trying to pick on mommy with this, weren't you?" he said, looking at the small box in his hand.

"Mommy? Wrath, she's not your mother!"

"I've decided to steal everything that's yours," he stated calmly as he turned and smiled towards Edward.

"She's not even my mother…" replied Edward.

"Fine…Then she'll be mine! Everything of yours will be mine. Even parts of that girl you know is mine!" exclaimed the child homunculus; happy to see how his words affected the teenager.

"What do you mean," demanded Edward. He saw the child turn the underside of his left arm towards the alchemist. Below the elbow on the forearm sat a large scar, appearing to have been made by a blade of some kind. At first, the sight didn't affect him, but then bits and pieces of Winry's diary came floating back to the surface. When Envy had her pinned in the dining room he turned his arm into a blade and plunged it into her left arm. "You bastard…That can't be…"  
"It is…and so is this," the child said gleefully as he pointed to his right leg. Sure enough, Edward could tell the slight difference between the hand and feet structures that would lend to the idea that they came from different people.

Trying his hardest not to let his emotions get the better of him as they would do no good to him at the moment, Edward took a deep breath before opening his hand towards the child homunculus, "Give it to me." Seeing the child not wanting to cooperate, Edward lunged toward Wrath, but was too slow as the child jumped straight into the air, out of reach for the alchemist. He jumped over Edward and landed a few feet away from him. The moment he landed, Wrath took the small box and absorbed it into his own chest, keeping it well out of reach for Edward. Feeling that the absorption was complete, Wrath turned his head and showed his evil grin to the elder brother.

* * *

Edward and Wrath crashed through one of the nearby windows into the abandoned factory, as Lust kept slicing Sloth every time she formed. Wrath turned his head and saw what Lust was doing; panic written all over his face. "What are you doing to mommy!" he screamed at Lust as he stood up. Edward stood up a few feet behind him and tried to explain, "He's yearning for a mother, and found a substitute…"

"I'm telling you to stop!" Wrath screamed as he ran towards Lust. He passed by an old conveyer belt full of guns and, using alchemy, turned his left arm into a dozen giant guns, all pointing at Lust. He shot dozens upon dozens of rounds of ammunition at her, but she quickly ducked and ran behind some machines. Sloth, who was still in her liquefied form at the time, noticed Alphonse looking towards the young homunculus, and took her chance to escape. The flow of water entered the hole in Al's side easily, and she commanded him to walk away, influencing the way he moved.

"Al!" Edward screamed as he began to run after him, not paying attention to the bullets flying everywhere. He stopped running as Lust came from out of nowhere and extended her claws fully, slicing the guns all the way down to the triggers.

"I will take care of Wrath," Lust stated calmly, indicating Edward should go and help his brother. Without waiting another moment, Edward ran off after Alphonse.


	30. Chapter 30

Not much has changed in the last few days, though I think I did pretty well on my test yesterday (we'll see when I get it back!). I might post one later tonight, but if I don't I am planning on posting another chapter tomorrow. Not many left!

* * *

Chapter Thirty

Alphonse, under the influence of Sloth liquefied inside him, walked into another building of the abandoned factory.

"Al!" Edward yelled as he entered the same part of the factory. Lust had just told him to leave because she would finish the battle with Wrath in the section of the factory they were just in moments ago. Edward ran into the factory and turned his head quickly when he heard a loud scream. Luckily he turned away from the punch coming from Alphonse. The giant suit of armor lunged forward to attack his elder brother, "Forgive me! I can't control my movements!" He struggled against the force inside of him, but was only successful in slowing the attack down momentarily. The fist connected with Edward and sent him stumbling back; the metal on Alphonse that touched his brother lit up in a bright crimson color.

"If I touch you…" said Edward as he struggled to catch his breath, "We don't know what reaction may occur!"

"Yes…It would seem so," came the female voice of Sloth from inside Alphonse, "So you should lower your fists…"

"Mom!" pleaded Alphonse as she continued to make him try and attack his brother.

"Understand, Al! She's not our mother!" Edward tried to explain as he dodged his brother's attacks. "Mom wouldn't say that or use you as a shield!"

Alphonse connected a punch with Edward again, sending him flying into a nearby desk. Still watching his brother, Ed quickly began carving a transmutation circle into the desktop, but had to duck and run when Alphonse came running at him, "She wouldn't hit me!" He ran to another desk opposite the first one and continued to carve a transmutation circle into its top.

"Since you can't touch your brother, you're going to use an alchemy array?" came the echoing voice from inside the metal armor. "But I won't leave you enough time to draw one!" Alphonse came up behind Edward and batted him hard to the side, causing his arm to light up brightly again.

"Brother!"

"It'll be enough!" Edward yelled as he ran behind the first desk. "Al!" he called, signaling for his brother to do the same thing. Catching Sloth off guard, Alphonse put his hand behind the second desk, and the two brothers shoved the two desks across the floor. The met in the middle, and the two halves of an alchemy circle formed. Overcoming Sloth's power momentarily, Alphonse ran towards the circle, with Edward meeting him on the other side. Without hesitation, the two slammed their hands to the surface, activating the circle. Ice began to slowly cover Al, and freeze the liquefied form of the homunculus within him. Edward could hear the gasps coming from her, as she froze solid inside his brother.

* * *

"Um…sorry, Al…" Edward apologized as he saw the frozen form of his younger brother.

"Me too…I apologize as well," responded the younger brother, still hunched over the desk in his frozen state.

Edward looked around and realized who was missing, "Oh, yeah…Lust…" He was interrupted as his brother's metal body began vibrating slightly.

"That night…" came the haunting voice of Sloth, still within Al's body, "That night, I saw you. Edward."

"Is she creating heat by making her cells vibrate?" gaped Edward at Alphonse. The ice could be seen melting off of him quickly, and just as Alphonse was about to stand up, the flow of water erupted from his side, and wrapped around his body to cover him. From the liquid matter covering his brother, Edward could see Sloth's face appear from his stomach.

"Edward…"

"Stop trying to act like my mother!" Edward said waving his hand to emphasize his point. "You don't even have her memories!"

"I do have some," she said, eliciting a surprised response from the elder brother. "As Lust said…They were inside of me. It might only be that they were burned in my mind, but…

"You're lying!" interrupted Edward. He was growing tired of this homunculus trying to overtake Alphonse and him by acting like their mother.

"That's why…I can do this," she said as she released Alphonse from her liquid cocoon, and turned into her human form once again. She saw the distressed look on Edward's face and continued, "I have memories. Memories of being your mother. Yet, your mother is dead, I…am not a human," she said after a moment. "Who am I?"

Edward filled with sadness, and lowered his head, closing his eyes. He did not want to be reminded of what he and his brother had done. He hurt almost every single day from knowing what he had done. And now Winry's death on top of all of that; it was just too much to handle.

"I…will kill you," Sloth finally said, ignoring Edward's emotions. "That will prove that I am not your mother." She hugged herself and looked away from the elder brother, "If you don't die, I shall be tormented by these memories. Even though I'm not your mother, if I was…I might love you…I should hate you, who created me." She brought her hand up and sent a stream of water toward Edward's direction; he barely had enough time to duck. Landing on his side, Edward quickly got up and began running away from the homunculus, continuing to dodge her attacks of water. Machines next to him were destroyed as he dodged, and finally he spun around and slammed his hands to the ground to create a wall of stone in front of him. She quickly broke thought it, and the many more that were created after the first. Alphonse looked from behind the homunculus, dumbfounded, and struggling to decide what to do.

"Al, this is the shape our sins have taken!" Edward yelled as he quickly turned his right arm into a blade and charged towards the homunculus, jumping above her and slicing her in half from head to toe. He quickly jumped back, knowing she would form again few moments later. She did, and he blocked her attacks using his arm blade, attempting to not be caught within her water, but staying close enough that he could get another jab when possible.

* * *

"Mommy!" came a voice from the side, causing Sloth to turn her head towards the noise. Edward had his chance and he quickly plunged the blade through Sloth's body into her heart. She was momentarily startled, but turned back to Edward and smiled, "I am not your mother. I won't take you in my arms…"

Suddenly a light shone from Edward's right arm, the one that was still plunged into the homunculus's chest, and she exploded into millions of droplets. The force of the blow threw Edward to the side, as Alphonse and Wrath watched with horror at what just happened. One-by-one the droplets began to hit the floor until the whole room appeared to have rain falling within it. Wrath became frantic at the sight of Sloth exploding and began to try and sweep her up into his hands.

"I alchemies my automail into sodium," Edward stated, as he knew Al was probably confused. He lifted his arm to look at his now-missing forearm while he continued his explanation, "By creating a reaction with the water, it caused an explosion." He got up slowly as he saw the pathetic attempts from Wrath to sweep up the remaining water as he still called out for his mother.

"Stop it, she's no one's mother," he saw the child homunculus weeping in the puddle of water as he continued to call out her name, "Mommy's dead."

"Mommy!" Wrath screamed out, and the three noticed the puddle of water coming together and a person begin to rise from it yet again.

"No matter what you do," came the hauntingly female voice, "I won't die." Wrath stood up suddenly and ran to her side, happy to see her alive again.

"Move away, Wrath," Sloth said calmly, almost motherly-like.

"Mommy! I want to become one with you!" he cried as he ran forward and hugged her around the middle. A bright light surrounded the two, and to Ed and Al's surprise when the light faded, Wrath had literally fused with Sloth. Half of his body disappeared within hers. He glared at Edward and flashed an evil grin.

"He…fused himself with another homunculus?" questioned Alphonse, trying to figure out what was to be done now.

"Wrath…" came a small voice from the homunculus he fused with, "What have you done!" She was paralyzed and couldn't move an inch.

Edward realized what happened and approached, "He absorbed the part of my mother's body I had with me into his body. Since it's so close, I guess you can't move…" He slowly walked away from the pair and continued talking, "I will rebuild all of the materials that make you…into other materials."

"It's impossible, brother! You can't alchemies human material!" exclaimed Alphonse, as he watched his brother rebuild his automail hand with some nearby metal.

"During my fight with Greed, I realized," Edward began talking again, now moving to the side of Sloth opposite from where Wrath stood. "I could arrange the chemical elements that made him. I not only can rearrange the elements of a part of a body like Kimbly…But I can also rearrange the elements of the whole body. Because…homunculi aren't human!" He clapped his hands together and placed them on Sloth's left arm. A bright alchemy array filled the room as the power from his transmutation could be felt, and Alphonse watched as Sloth turned into her water form, and then instantaneously back into her human form. Wrath looked up to see her expressionless face and called out her name.

"What did you do to her? What did you do to mommy!" he yelled out as Sloth's body began to turn a transparent greenish color, and her hair lifted off of her shoulders into the air.

"Hurry and get away," Edward stated simply.

"Mommy?" Wrath continued to ask, waiting for a response from her.

Edward lowered his head slightly as he explained what he had just done, "I restructured all the water molecules within her into ethanol…She will evaporate by herself."

Wrath didn't want to leave her side, but was soon burned by the evaporating ethanol and quickly pulled away. He sat on the ground, helpless and watched his mother begin to disappear before his eyes. The three sat by as the form of Sloth began to disappear slowly. Edward felt emotions run through him, and lowered his head slightly so no one would see him,

"You have…done well…" came the wispy voice from the evaporating ethanol. Edward looked up to see Sloth looking down towards him. In that moment, she really did look like his mother. No longer did the hardness of being a homunculus adorn her face, but the pleasant and kind eyes that looked like they could fix anything stared down to him. In that moment, Edward really did feel like he was losing his mother again, though he would not shed a tear. The homunculus looked down at him as she continued evaporating, "Don't forget to clean up afterwards…"

And then she was gone…again…

Both Edward and Alphonse, who had walked behind his brother during this time, lowered their heads in mutual sadness and thoughts. Wrath, who had watched his mother disappear in front of him, fell to his knees and began to wail in agony. He kept himself propped up with his hands, but his face was lowered to the floor as tears soaked it. He sat there wailing for minutes as both brothers felt the same way on the inside, but forced themselves not to show it.

"Ed, Al…" came a hauntingly familiar voice from the side. Edward whirled around to see Winry staring at him. She was dressed in the outfit he had been accustomed to seeing her in, with her white coat and black tank top. Her long, blond hair was up in her normal ponytail as she stood by one of the columns.

"Winry…It can't be…" he whispered quietly to himself, as he could hear Al do the same thing next to him. The light behind her shone brightly, and for a moment, Edward thought she was an angel, or maybe even a ghost coming to haunt them.

"Winry! You're okay!" Alphonse suddenly shouted in joy as he began to walk towards her. He stopped just a few feet from her, knowing that since she was an alchemist, she too may react if he touched her. "How did you get out of Lior? Why are you here?"

"I was worried, so I came. I heard about where you were going from Pinako, and came over here as fast as I could!" she said, flashing a gigantic smile. "I just saw everything, and you finally beat her!"

Both brothers became silent at her phrase, and this more than anything else upset Edward. "You're not Winry…" he said slowly, transmuting his arm into a blade. The girl suddenly looked frightened and held her hands up in surrender. Al quickly ran towards her to attack, but was surprised when she quickly twirled around him and held his hand behind his back.

"This is where it ends…" the girl stated with no emotion.

"It's pointless. I'm the Philosopher's Stone," admitted Alphonse, causing the girl to smile and look at him.

"What did you say?" A light surrounded the girl and from it emerged the form of Envy. The sight of him alone made Edward's blood boil and pound in his veins. Anger began to surge within him, but he had to keep it in control for his brother's sake. "Then you won't mind if I try something…" continued Envy, "I wonder if you'll be okay if I break this!" he yelled as he punched through the hole in Al's side, hitting his blood seal directly. A bright red light flashed, but showed that the younger brother was unharmed.

"Stop it!" yelled Edward, "Don't touch him!"

After the light faded, Envy turned and looked at Edward, "You don't have to worry. I'm only taking him to that person's place, after all."

"The one Lust was talking about?" growled Edward. He wanted to keep him talking so he would have enough time to figure out a way to get Al out of his predicament, "The one controlling all of you…The person who was looking for the Stone in order to become immortal!"

"Hmmm…I dunno," grinned the shape-changing homunculus, "Let me just say that you are not completely unrelated…"

Realization hit Edward from Envy's last statement, "Could it be that the one controlling you…took Mom as one of his associates on purpose? The one who would do such a thing…"

"It can't be!" exclaimed Alphonse, still being held still by the homunculus, "Father would never do such a thing!" He was surprised as Envy easily lifted him up onto his shoulders.

"It's time to go," Envy said, turning to walk out of the open doorway. He turned his head back towards Edward before exiting, "I know you're mad at what I did…" he said, causing Edward to narrow his eyes at him, "But if you want, I can make it up to you someday. I was going to bring her here with me, but then realized she wasn't smart enough to escape the city before your brother pulled the stunt he did…" he laughed before walking out the door.

"You bastard!" Edward yelled as he began to run after Envy. Before he could get more than a step, he felt a hand grab his, preventing him from moving any further. He looked down to see Wrath looking at the ground, clutching onto his own hand tightly.

"It's your fault…" he said slowly as he stood up. "Because of you guys…Mommy!" he yelled as he swung at Edward. The teenager was able to duck back in time to dodge the punch, but was had to hold his hands in front of him as Wrath continued to punch at him.

"Mommy…mommy…mommy died!" He yelled as he continued punching Edward, "And she was your own mother, too!" The phrase caught Edward off guard and he was knocked to the ground by the powerful punch. Wrath quickly jumped on top of the teenager and grabbed his neck, cutting off the air supply to Edward. Edward reached up with his left arm and tried to pry the homunculus off of his neck, but the strength was just too much for him. Wrath sat there choking him for a second, and then screamed as he raised his fist in another punch.

* * *

"Stop it!" came a commanding voice from outside, causing the child to halt his actions. There, in the doorway, stood Edward's sensei, and Wrath's real mother. Wrath lowered his fist and sneered at the woman, though not removing his hand from Edward's neck.

"This has nothing to do with you," he spat out to the woman. Izumi looked upset from the comment, and her eyes softened, "If you want to kill someone, it should be me."

Wrath stood up from his position and stood to face the woman, "You're not mommy! I don't give a shit about you!" he screamed as he ran towards her. Edward called out to Izumi, believing that Wrath was about to attack her, but relaxed when the child ran past her and disappeared into the woods. Edward attempted to stand up, but fell over as his left leg gave out from underneath him. Izumi turned around in time to see her pupil fall and walked over to where he sat on the floor.

"Are you okay?" She saw that Edward's head was still looking towards the floor, and indicator that he didn't want anyone to see his emotions.

"He was crying," Edward said after a moment of silence. "I couldn't shed a tear…Yet, he was crying. It was as if…it was in my stead."

Izumi's eyes softened as she walked forward and kneeled down to help the teenager up, "It's okay. Right now, we need to take care of Alphonse. Surely I could be of some help…" His sensei looked down towards him, "That's why I came." Edward smiled to himself slightly, and let her help him up, and over to a machine so he could transmute more metal to fix his leg.

"Thank you…sensei…"


	31. Chapter 31

Hey everyone. I want to apologize again for the last few chapters. There was SOOO much information I had to put across, but I didn't want to bore you guys with all of the details (I know some of you wanted me to get on with the story). I had to copy some of the dialogue straight from the (subtitled) episodes that I have seen, because everytime I tried to write what was going on it ended up and even more confusing than before. I knew when posting those last couple of chapters that it seemed kind of rushed, but that's why I tried to make up for it with the rest of the story. There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter, though I tried my hardest to not make it seem so rushed. Anyways, here it is. Major spoilers from here on out (if you hadn't already figured that one out), well…at least for the next few chapters.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

Edward walked up to the old, dilapidated church on the outskirts of what was the Old Central town. He had received word that the Tringham brothers were there to give him some information their father wanted delivered to him. Thinking he might have had the wrong place, Edward hesitantly opened the doors to the church and walked in. Sure enough, inside sat Russell and his younger brother, Fletcher, waiting for him on the old antique pews.

"Edward!" Fletcher yelled out happily as he ran up to the alchemist. At one point on his and Alphonse's journey, these two brothers posed as Edward and Al just to be able to continue their father's research on the red water. Action pursued, and in the end all of them realized the water was slowly poisoning the city, so it had to be disposed of. They were civil to each other after that incident, though Russell still loved to throw the short jokes in Edward's direction.

"What took you so long?" Asked Russell as the three walked to the front of the church.

"Sorry. Is this the place you were supposed to tell me about?" responded Edward.

"Yes. It is here," commented Fletcher quietly.

"Show it to me once more," Edward said, as Fletcher handed him an old piece of paper. Edward read carefully, not wanting to miss any information.

"Long ago," explained Russell, "Father came to Old Central to research a method for creating the red water. Here, he found a place called the Fifth Laboratory. And there, he met an alchemist. That man revealed to him…that to transmute red water into the Philosopher's Stone, the use of human lives was essential. He also revealed the location of the true laboratory." The three looked at the large altar in front of them as Edward folded up the piece of paper and handed it back to Russell.

"The Fifth Laboratory was nothing more than the entrance to something greater," the elder Elric brother thought out loud as he studied the altar, "In reality, there was a bigger human research facility. Indeed, this has to be the place we're looking for." Edward slowly began to walk up to the altar, then noticed the two brothers begin to follow him. "No," he said, turning around slightly, "I'll go alone…"

"But, I don't understand…" commented Fletcher, "Al is in trouble, isn't he?"

Edward smiled slightly to comfort the younger brother, "Don't worry, it's okay. He's only a little lost." He clapped his hands and placed them on the front of the altar, opening a large space that had stairs trailing down into the darkness.

"Ed," said Russell, causing the teenager to turn around again, "The reason we let you see this diary…wasn't because we wanted you to create the Philosopher's Stone."

"I know," Edward responded, "I'm not going to create the Philosopher's Stone. Believe me." He turned back around and began to descend into the darkness below the altar. After a few moments he could hear Russell and Fletcher run to the entrance behind him, "Come back, Edward…Come back alive!" he heard Russell yell from above.

* * *

Edward descended the steps for what seemed like hours before finally coming out into a bright area. It had a natural waterfall next to the opening to the stairwell, and he could see the many giant roots of ancient trees forming the walls of the room. He walked off to the side and noticed large carvings of masks that adorned the walls as well. He was finally able to locate another set of stairs descending further down, and quickly began to disappear into the darkness.

"_According to Father's Diary,_" Edward remember Russell telling him earlier, "_If you enter this temple, a relic from an ancient religion, and go deep underground, suddenly…_"

Edward's mind became blank as he finally exited the bottom of the stairs, and stood upon a great wall overlooking a city. "_Under Central, you'll find another city._" Edward continued to stare at all the buildings as his mind caught up and remembered Russell's words, "_Father estimated from the architectural style that it was close to four hundred years old. There is a legend, that back then, where Central stands today, there was a city that disappeared in one night. Father performed experiments related to the very nature of alchemy. 'Was the whole city trapped and taken underground?' That's what he thought._"

"Using all of the people in a city as a sacrifice for the Philosopher's Stone…" Edward thought out loud, "To deceive other people and hide the disappearance of the population…make the city itself disappear." He continued to stare out at the seemingly dead and ancient city, "Is there anyone capable of crafting such a plan?"

"Is anyone here!" Edward screamed into the city, hearing himself echo from the distant walls. "You must be here! You knew everything, didn't you? Old man!" He screamed into the emptiness of the city, somehow knowing that his father was not here. He walked along the sides of the wall, until he was able to jump down onto one of the structures of the city. The city really _was_ empty; no one had lived here for many years. In the distance, Edward heard some music playing, which surprised him. Maybe someone is still living down here! He ran as fast as he could up to the structure, which looked like an old opera house, and stood before the doors. He could hear the classical music playing behind them. Determined to find out what the hell was going on, Edward pushed opened the doors, and couldn't believe his eyes.

Indeed inside was the interior of a gorgeous opera hall, with its many lofts where the upper class would sit looming over the floor. The hundreds of lights that were contained within the room were all lit, showing the extraordinary features of the room. The blood red curtains that hung on the stage were pulled back, as though a performance was about to start. None of this, though, compared to the sight he saw before him.

* * *

In the middle of the opera house, normally where other seats were placed, was Winry. She was dressed in an ornate dress that Edward pictured coming out of the same time period as this city. The long sleeves covered her arms, though her automail hand still showed at the end. Her once beautiful, long, blond hair was now spiky and red, which reminded Edward of the girl he chased throughout Rush Valley not too long ago. Could it have been her the whole time? That would explain the problems he had with catching her; she had been trying to hide from him. On the dance floor, the girl fluidly moved around, as if being led by an imaginary partner.

"Winry?" Edward said almost silently. He wished this were a dream; he didn't want to be tricked again. The mention of her name caused the girl to stop and look towards Edward's direction. He looked deep into her eyes, and realized something was different, like a part of her was not there.

"Edward?" She said quietly as she started to smile slightly, "You finally came…"

Edward was about to question her, but didn't get a chance as she stepped forward and grabbed his hand, leading him in a dance while the music still played. Ed felt her close to him, and knew that this time she was the real Winry, but that didn't explain anything to him as to why she was acting the way she was.

"Winry? Why are you here? How did you escape Lior?" he questioned as he continued to lead him around the dance floor. He was overjoyed to know that she was, in fact, still alive, but something deeply disturbed him about this whole thing.

"I've been waiting for you forever. Forever, Edward…I…." She pulled her head back from his shoulder and looked him in the eye. Edward blushed at her words, but something else was causing her to act this way. He needed to get away so he could find the source, instead of letting his emotions be clouded. He quickly pulled away and stepped back from Winry.

"Winry, who tricked you into coming here?" He asked her, and not receiving a response, "What is this plac--"

The sound of a baby crying interrupted his questions, and he saw her slightly respond to the noise. Turning around, he saw Lyla, Dante's apprentice, standing by the side of the floor holding a baby close to her chest.

"My baby…" Winry said as she quickly walked over to take it from the other woman.

"_Baby!_," Edward thought to himself, "_What the hell is going on here!_" He saw Winry cradle the baby in her arms and lovingly hug and hold it as if it were her own child. He knew that the child wasn't hers, and almost didn't want to know where it came from.

"If only you could have danced with her…" spoke Lyla after a few moments of silence. "After we ran away from Lior and came into hiding here, she waited for you. You're despicable, you know…"

"Lyla, did you bring Winry here?" asked Edward point blank. She should be able to shed some light on the issue at hand, since she seemed to be acting normally.

"This is a town that only old alchemists know of," Lyla said as she walked out onto the dance floor, to within a few feet of Edward, "That's what Dante-sensei told me."

"I still haven't heard…"continued Edward. For some reason his nerves were not settling right, "haven't heard why Dante was killed."

Lyla lowered her eyes slightly in pain at the memory of her old teacher, "She was killed by the homunculus called Greed. Didn't I tell you?"

"That's a lie," said Edward bluntly.

"It can't be," Lyla replied, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"The alchemy array left behind in Dante's mansion was something to block the homunculi's moves," Edward continued. "There, I also found the bones of what was once, Greed. He couldn't have possibly made a move against Dante."

"Is that so?" Lyla asked, laughing slightly to herself, "But Dante died, that's for sure…"

"If the body was only used as a shell for the soul…" Edward reasoned, but was interrupted by the woman.

"What are you trying to say?"

"What if," Edward continued, "the power of the Philosopher's Stone was used to switch from one body to another…it would make a human capable of living hundreds of years, right?" He narrowed his eyes back at the woman in front of him, "Back then, you made it look like you died and took over Lyla's body! Isn't that so?" he finished, yelling out loud.

The woman smirked, then suddenly looked desperate for help, "Ed, stop this! I…"

She was not able to finish as Edward transmuted a spear from part of the floor and hurled it at the woman in front of him. She quickly clapped her hands together and held one out in front of her, preventing the spear from penetrating her barrier. The spear was flung to the side and landed on the other side of the huge ballroom.

"That was close," she said sternly.

"When did you see the gate, Lyla?" Edward asked. When he didn't get a response he continued, "You did a transmutation without an alchemy array. That itself is the answer, Dante!"

The woman smiled slightly at the teenager's intelligence, "When did you find out, Edward Elric?"

"So it was true…"

"I've grown quite fond of this body," Dante stated happily.

"Then, which body is this?"

"I don't know, I can't remember, but I do know it's not even the tenth. After all, I had to use the Philosopher's stone during that time…" she said as she looked up towards the teenager and smiled.

"You destroyed this city's inhabitants…and created the stone!" Edward demanded to know.

"It was the same for a country in the East that disappeared in a night, long ago," she finally answered, and smiled as she heard the sharp intake of breath as Edward realized she spoke of the Ishbal rebellion. "I do have to tell you, I'm not the one who created it…"

"Hohenheim of Light," Edward spat out; he was _really_ beginning to hate his father.

"You mustn't speak your father's name like that," Dante said, almost disciplining the teenager who had no respect for the man she used to love.

"Did he live on like that too? For what purpose is all of this?"

"Because we are worth it," Dante said bluntly.

"You use sneaky moves to create the Stone, and use it only so that you can live on!" Edward pointed out, "This can't be forgiven!"

"Humans can't handle the Philosopher's Stone," Dante tried to explain; though she knew the teenager would most likely not listen to her.

"Therefore," Edward said, continuing her train of thought, "when they try to create it and are annihilated, only the mere legend remains. Those who approach the stone will die…"

"Yes," replied Dante, "That way, humans won't get close to the Philosopher's Stone. And for those who come close to it, we confiscate it in the nick of time and use it with the utmost care. After all, if we left something like the Philosopher's Stone in human hands, we don't know what they would do with it. I'm doing this so that foolish humans won't destroy it…You could say that I'm living on to protect the world. So that foolish humans don't do foolish things with the Philosopher's Stone…"

"Don't kid yourself!" interrupted Edward, "You too, are a human!"

Calmly Dante looked at the teenager and smiled, "I am no longer human."

* * *

A door to one of the back exits opened suddenly, and Edward was startled when one of the homunculus, the one named Gluttony, barged in yelling out Lust's name. Edward quickly got ready to fight the creature if it attacked him, though he kept Dante in his sights as well.

"What a shame," she said as she began to walk over to Winry. Edward became angrier the closer she got to his friend, but didn't want to do anything that would attract the attention of Gluttony, who was still walking around looking for his friend. Dante walked up to Winry and cupped the girl's face in her hands, "I was looking forward to entering this body and having the Hohenheim's son love me…" she said as she held Winry in a close embrace.

"So this time, it's Winry's body?" Edward growled, "What have you done to her!"

"Yes," Dante replied, almost grinning at seeing the teenager's anger, "I've also attained the Philosopher's Stone again."

"What do you mean?" Edward questioned, then widened his eyes in realization, "Al?…Where is Al?"

"Lust! What happened to Lust!" screamed out Gluttony, interrupting the two.

"Ask him, Gluttony," Dante said, directing the homunculi's attention to the alchemist in front of him. Gluttony came trudging up to Edward, calling out his friend's name, and grabbed the teen's right arm with his mouth.

"She's dead…Because of me…" Edward finally said, looking down at the homunculus still attached to his automail arm.

"Lust…is dead?" asked Gluttony quietly, the arm muffling his voice.

"Yes. Your comrade, Wrath, sealed her," Ed said, answering him. Gluttony let go of Edward's arm and began to fall back, and plopped down on the ground in a daze.

"Gluttony?" questioned Dante, still holding Winry's face within her hands. The homunculus repeated the name of his fallen friend and slowly dragged himself up and away from the room. She yelled out his name, but did not get any response out of him.

Seeing that the homunculus had left for the time being, Edward saw his chance to attack, "Let's get this over with!" he shouted as he quickly turned his hand into a blade. Before he could reach Dante, she transmuted the stone floor in front of her to become a giant snake and had it lunge towards the teenager. Just as the snake was about to swallow him whole, Edward jumped up high enough to land on the beast's head and run down its body towards his opponent. He surprised Dante, and was able to slice part of her chest before she moved out of the way. The force of the attack pushed her away, and he deliberately put himself between her and Winry.

* * *

Dante looked down to see the front of her dress had been ripped off, exposing part of her decaying body. "I knew it," Edward said, "Attaching your soul again and again is not something that will last forever. It's the Law of Conservation! That's the consequence of doing something that stupid again and again!"

"The Law of Conservation?" questioned Dante as she easily fixed the torn parts of her dress, "You still believe that theory taught to children?"

"It's not a theory. It is alchemy's…no, this world's rule!" Edward lectured, "Didn't you say it too? 'In order to gain something, something of equal value is necessary."

"That is something only children say…'Setting things equal…that's unfair'," Dante replied, smiling slightly, "But you see, there is no such thing as the Law of Conservation." She ignored the outburst from the teenager and continued, "To gain something, you must pay. Then, conversely, by paying a price, something will be gained."  
"Of course, that's why people make efforts to pay this price!"

"But that's weird," Dante thought as she waited for Edward to finish, "After all, even though you gain the same price, you won't always gain the same thing." She saw the realization hit Hohenheim's son like a ton of bricks and smiled in delight, "There is the Nationally Certified Alchemist examination. To pass it, how many people spend time studying for it? That is what they put into it. But, in reality, only a small number will pass. To begin with, even if you study alchemy in the same way, huge differences in ability will be born."

Dante saw Edward look at her, then back towards Winry, "And people's lives do not have the same value." She placed her hands together and reactivate the giant stone serpent. With lightning speed, it lunged towards Winry and snatched the baby from her arms, knocking her to the side. Edward himself had to jump out of the way, but quickly ran to Winry to check and see if she was all right. The serpent looped and floated in the air, holding the baby in its mouth for all to see. The child cried frantically, knowing danger was near.

"With the way things are," Dante finally spoke up, "the baby will die…"

"Stop it!" Edward yelled at her as he helped Winry to her feet; she seemed to be fine, at least physically. Whatever mind control she was under still was in place.

"It is really easy to kill him. Then," the woman explained, " was that child only born to die? That child is trying his best to live, and he is paying the price. Yet, the only thing he will gain is…death. On the other hand, there are people who survive even though they kill other people. It doesn't matter how hard you try to live; at the time of your death, you will die. If you compare this to people who are blessed with wealth and authority, who spend their life happily…Isn't that unfair? The world is truly cruel. Yet, at the same time, you could say that is why it is beautiful…"

"Quit your sophistry!" Edward yelled, tired of hearing this old woman's philosophies. He clapped his hands together and placed them on the stone serpent, causing it to disappear. The baby that was once in its mouth now fell towards the ground, but was easily caught by the teenager. He gently held the child and turned to give it back to Winry. She took the child from Edward's arms and cradled it in hers yet again.

"What you call the Law of Conservation is merely an excuse for the weak to console themselves," Dante said, interrupting the moment between the two teens, "If they paid a price, they would become happier…"  
Edward swung his arm in frustration, "You didn't need to use this child as an explanation!"

Dante contained the laughter that threatened to fly from her mouth, "You are like your Father, after all."

Panic crept through Edward as he turned around to see an alchemist circle appear on the baby's stomach. Then everything went black.


	32. Chapter 32

I'm being nice today. Here's another chapter for you guys. I'm going to post chapter 33 on Tuesday and 34 on Thursday, and then most likely wrap up the last three chapters during next weekend. It's sad, I don't want the fun to be over! And as for a sequel…I don't know yet if I'm going to do one. I think it will all revolve around what is going on at my school. It's kind of sad, I've been a senior since August, and just _now_ realized it! So things might be getting hectic soon. But if I do, you guys will see it on here! I'll have to write it out and finish it before I post it, so you guys won't have to wait weeks in between chapters!

But, it's still a thought I'm twirling around in my head…We'll see…

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Two 

Alphonse remained motionless on the floor of the opera house as the transmutation circle shined brightly around him. Dante stood close by, holding the unharmed baby in her arms, as Winry stood quietly by her side. Envy was dragging his fellow homunculus, Gluttony, over to the circle, trying to get him to eat the now weakened Philosopher's Stone. Gluttony, who was still overcome with grief at the loss of his comrade Lust, sat on the floor and continued to quietly call out her name.

Edward was nowhere to be found.

Al was surprised to see Winry in attendance and kept trying to get her attention, to bring her out of whatever spell she may be under. Maybe if she could hear him, they could figure out a way to get out of this situation.

"It's no use, Alphonse," Dante said after a few minutes of listening to him try and alert his friend. She was becoming tired of all this nonsense; she just needed Gluttony to eat Al's body so the Philosopher's Stone would be at full power, but nothing was going to plan. "She can't hear you. Well, she can, but her body is not able to react without me telling it to first." She reached up with a hand and stroked the side of the girl's face, "Soon, my soul will replace hers and take over this body. The automail makes an interesting addition, don't you think Envy?"

Envy looked over to her with indifference, and then turned back to Gluttony, "Eat him," he said, poking the side of the large homunculus. "Inside of you, he'll become a perfect stone! So," he said as he stood up and wiped his hands, "let's hurry and get it done."

"Lust…" moaned Gluttony, as he started to warily walk away from the scene, "What happened to Lust? Lust…"

Envy became angry at his comrade's attitude and walked over to him, demanding he eat Alphonse's body, "What's with you?" he yelled. "Hurry up and eat him!" He pointed at the transmutation circle, while still glaring at Gluttony, "Let me see it! I wanna see HIS children being eaten by you!" He saw Gluttony lower his head in sadness and cursed to himself in frustration, "And I wanted to beat the shrimp to a pulp, too!"

Dante carefully handed the child over to Winry, who held the baby lovingly in her arms, and walked over to kneel in front of the large homunculus. She gently stroked the top of his bald head, "Forgive me. It's so sudden…" Seconds later she plunged her hand into Gluttony's mouth, and stretched his tongue out, revealing his Ouroboros mark. Holding the mark in her hand, Dante activated the alchemy within it, causing it to glow brightly, before releasing his tongue and letting it retreat back into his mouth. Gluttony lowered his head and stared at the floor.

"Um…Gluttony?" asked Envy. He had never really seen Dante do what she just done, and didn't know what the reaction may be. The large homunculus reared his head back towards Envy and stared at him. Everything about Gluttony's demeanor had changed. His eyes held malice, and streams of drool dripped from his gaping mouth.

"Be careful," warned Dante, "There is nothing left but the gluttony inside him. After all, homunculi are created like Red Stone, they don't need a mind…Now, Gluttony…" The voice caused him to turn his head back sharply at the woman. She pointed towards the transmutation circle and pointed at Alphonse's body, "I want you to eat him." The homunculus nodded his understanding slowly, and began to lumber towards the circle.

Watching his slow movement, Dante walked back and took her spot next to Winry and the baby, "Very soon, you shall become me…" A noise from the side caught her attention. "Envy!"

The slender homunculus turned around and caught the child trying to run past him at the last second. Wrath struggled against Envy, while Dante once again took the baby into her arms. "Don't let him use alchemy."

"You…fool," Envy muttered as he tried to hold the child back.

"Make my…my Mommy come back to life!" yelled Wrath as he continued to struggle against Envy.

Dante lifted the baby in her arms above her head and activated the transmutation circle that was on his body. Wrath and Envy both opened their eyes to see themselves in front of the large and ominous gate. Wrath whirled around, breaking free of his bonds with Envy, and watched, terrified, as the gates opened and the tentacles of blackness stretched out to him. He tried to back away, but the darkness, being too quick for him, enveloped the child.

"What a bad child," Dante mentioned without a second thought, "Now, the Philosopher's Stone will soon be activated to its greatest power." She continued to hear the pleads and screams coming from the child homunculus, and ignored them, "But, if he uses alchemy here, the transmutation would start on its own. It would be better to get rid of any chance of his using alchemy…"

The darkness still enveloped the child and began to eat into his flesh. Moments later, between the bone-chilling cracks of limbs being torn and the child's screams, they all watched as all four of the boy's limbs were ripped from his body. After getting what they were after, the darkness slowly retreated back into their haven, and the doors quickly creaked shut.

Dante tilted her head down slightly, and smiled, "And I let him live because I thought I might still have some use for him…"

"The Gate…" muttered Envy, panic slowly emerging in his voice. The sound caused Dante to look up. "The Gate…" he said again, pointing in front of him, "isn't disappearing!" Slowly, the doors began to open again, creaking against a powerful force that was trying to make its way through. The doors opened under the power of the force being used, as Edward pushed his way back through the gate into his world.

* * *

"Ed!" exclaimed Envy, as he saw the boy crash onto the floor. 

"Brother!" called out Alphonse. Thank goodness he was all right, what Dante said wasn't true!

Edward slowly pushed himself up on his hands and looked around. Confusion was written all over his face as he saw his younger brother lying in a huge transmutation circle, "Al?" He felt something weird and looked down to his right hand. For the brief minutes that Edward was transported across the gate, he inhabited a boy similar to his age in the world on the other side. Surprised to say the least when he woke up over there, Edward had four regular, fleshy limbs. He found his father, who explained the principles of the gate and the Law of Conservation, and informed Edward that dying and dead souls from their side of the gate cross over to become the energy needed for alchemy on the other side. Unfortunately, the boy Edward inhabited was killed, and Ed's soul fought to regain his body that was locked in the gate, and return to his original side.

Edward stared at his automail hand, and realized the boy on the other side of the gate lost his life, granting Edward passage to return back here. "It's back?" he said, flexing his right hand slightly, "I see…so back there…he died. Did I use another life from there?" he asked himself sadly.

"Isn't this extraordinary, Edward?" asked a voice that Edward had not heard from forever. He quickly lifted his head to see his friend Dr. Marcoh, staring down at him.

"Dr. Marcoh?" he asked, somewhat confused, "Why are you here?" A light flashed as another familiar face took form, causing Edward to narrow his eyes in realization.

"You must know," Maes Hughes said, as he straightened up and pushed his glasses back. "Edward, weren't you the one who entrusted Dr. Marcoh to the Fuhrer?" he asked as he pointed his finger jokingly. "He couldn't have been safe. It's been awhile since he went into Gluttony's stomach," Maes said, pointing to the large homunculus, who had stopped moving closer to Alphonse during all of the commotion. "It's as if you had killed him…And me as well!" the soldier yelled as his throwing daggers came from nowhere and were hurled in Edward's direction.

Edward quickly dodged the flying daggers and jumped to the side. "It must be hard on you…" continued Envy, who was still in Hughes's form, "dealing with a face you know. "Even if you know it's not the real person!" he yelled again, running forward to attack the teenager. Edward tumbled inches underneath where the blades fell, dodged more attacks, and quickly whirled around the form of his deceased friend, yanking his arms behind his back. Edward quickly used his right arm and slung it around Hughes's neck, and drug him to the floor in a choke-hold.

"Is that all?" Edward said, continuing to keep his grip on Envy's neck, "Is that the limit to your power? Then," he continued as he heard the homunculus gasp for air, "I can defeat you. I've killed homunculi. Even the one that had my mother's face; I killed it. Now, no matter what face I see…"

"You're right," Envy interrupted as the light flashed again. Edward gasped as he saw Winry's face turn around to look at him, "Go ahead and kill me then, Edward…"

Envy caught the teenager off guard and quickly elbowed him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back a few feet. The form of Winry stood up and turned to face Edward, before the light once again surrounded her and Envy remained standing there, "See?" he laughed, "It _is_ hard…"

Tired of the child's play, Edward quickly clapped his hands together, but didn't transform anything when he heard a voice behind him, "Stop this at once, Edward." He turned his head slightly and glared at Dante, though keeping Envy in his sight, "You have no right to order me!"

"Oh well, not that I mind, but…" laughed Envy as he walked closer to the teenager, "Don't you care at all about what will happen to your younger brother?"

"The Philosopher's Stone has been activated," explained Dante as Edward stared at his brother, "If transmutations occur near it, you know…"

"What would happen," sneered Envy as he snuck up Edward. The teenager reacted to his presence, but was too slow as Envy raised his knee and kicked Edward hard in the stomach. Edward tried to punch back, but was quickly kicked in the face and sent flying to the ground. He quickly kicked himself up and ran after the homunculus, "Don't get too cocky!" he yelled. He charged and tried to attack Envy, but wasn't fast enough to catch the homunculus.

* * *

"It's impossible," Envy laughed as he continued to jump out of the way, "cause I'm stronger and faster than you!" He landed from doing a back flip, and was about to move again, when he felt something sharp sink into his ankle. He turned around to see Wrath, who now had no arms and legs, latching onto his ankle with his razor sharp teeth. "You bastard," he muttered, as he quickly shook the child off of him and kicked him to the side. 

The moment of distraction gave Edward the chance he needed, and he quickly tackled Envy to the ground. They rolled on the ground from the force of his tackle, and Edward wrestled his way to the top. As he straddled the homunculus, Edward quickly and angrily began punching its face. Between punches, Envy would change the look of his face to try and trick the teenager again, hoping to get a chance to escape. His face changed into Trisha Elric's, pleading with Edward to stop, then to Dr. Marcoh's, Maes Hughes, even Winry's (which Edward felt bad for hitting, even if he knew it wasn't her). Envy changed his face into that of Colonel Mustang's, which Edward found was the easiest to punch.

"Show your true face!" Edward demanded as he continued to punch Envy, "You only borrow people's appearances, and manipulate their hearts! That's the only thing you can do!"

"Do you really want to see it so badly?" Envy sneered as Edward continued to punch him.

Edward reared back and readied another strong punch, "If you can show it to me!" He swung his fist towards Envy's face, but stopped it in mid-air when he saw the light dissipate as he finished his transformation.

"What's wrong? You wanted to see it didn't you?" Envy laughed slightly, as Edward saw the form his face had turned into. Edward was shocked to see Envy's true face matched closely to that of his father's and his own.

"Fa…Father?" he choked out, his hands trembling in utter shock.

"Envy was…the first homunculus Hohenheim created, back when he was younger," Edward could vaguely hear Dante explain, "Back then, our child died from mercury poisoning. He tried to bring him back to life, and failed.

"And then, he abandoned me…" continued Envy, still from underneath the teenager. "You must understand, right?" he sneered. "Why I hate him!"

Envy took his chance as Edward still sat there in shock, and plunged his arm he had transformed into a spike straight through the teenager's chest. The malice and glee could be see on his face as he saw the teen gasp for breath; blood ran down Envy's spiked arm onto his body. He sat up and pushed Edward off of him, the sickening sound of the spike withdrawing from his body echoed throughout the room. Edward coughed up blood as his body slumped on the ground, as the very last bit of life he had fought a losing battle to stay alive.

"Brother…" Alphonse sadly called out, still not able to move from the transmutation circle.

Winry still stood motionless next to Dante's side; her eyes remained in their distant state. Then slowly, consciousness began to flicker through them. "Ed…ward," came a small whimper from her lips. Dante looked over and could see the hold she had on the girl was beginning to weaken, but knew she could not perform alchemy at the moment to stop her. Winry's eyes opened slightly more, as her mind fought to overcome the spell on her body.

"Ed…ward…" came the voice again, though this time it was a little louder and sounded more urgent. Pain suddenly shot through the girl's head as her soul finally overcame the force that had controlled her, and screamed out while reaching towards his dying body, "EDWARD!"


	33. Chapter 33

Hey all, I just got home from class! It's about 7:30pm central time, and I am exhausted! Anyway, in response to some of your reviews, I am THINKING of making a sequel. I don't know when I will start on it, hell I still need to come up with a concept. I most likely will wait until I see the movie and see what is resolved out of that before I go making something totally off the wall. I started writing again on my Inuyasha story, so I might just keep with that until I finish it. Hell I have a habit of getting tired of writing on one story and shift to another (I think I've got like three going on right now from various fandoms?). Just for example, I just noticed that I started typing a few chapters of my Inuyasha story back on Halloween of LAST year, and I'm just now coming back to it. I've got a Lord of the Rings story that I've been working on for almost three years (so you can imagine just how long that one will be).

Onto another subject…I do agree that I like Winry being used in the story instead of Rose. Hell, in the anime Dante says that she wants 'Hohenheim's son' to love her, so I figured that if she did her homework she would have went after Winry instead of Rose. Now, I _do_ understand why they did Rose instead of Winry, but hey…you gotta love fanfiction, eh?

Anyway, enough blathering. I'm posting chapter 34 on Thursday when I get home from class, so I'll see ya then!

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Three

"EDWARD!" Winry screamed, as her soul finally broke through the force that was controlling her. Tears streamed down her face as she began to run towards her beloved, but were stopped when she felt a hand firmly grasp her wrist. She turned around to see Dante angrily looking at her. Winry narrowed her eyes and jerked her hand away from her captor, and quickly ran to where Edward's body lay. Ignoring the pool of blood she was in, Winry kneeled next to him and cupped his expressionless face in her hands.

"No…It can't be…" she whispered to herself as she realized he was no longer with her. She gently grabbed his real hand with hers and held it lovingly, stroking his palm with her thumb. Tears continued to stream down her face as her heart began to break within her.

Envy laughed as he watched the girl hover over Edward's dead body. He always loved to see any human in pain, whether it was physical or emotional. But, he knew Dante wouldn't be happy seeing her new body act in the way she was, and walked over to drag her away from Edward.

Winry reacted the moment Envy grabbed her arm. She fought back, but he easily threw her to the side. The girl landed hard on her side, but quickly got up again, and ran towards Edward. Envy caught her by the neck and held her up in the air, cutting off her airflow, "Do you want to join him?" He could see the tears still flowing down her cheeks as she weakly tried to pry his hand from her neck. Envy soon grew tired of the girl's crying and threw her off to the side, into a stone column. The force of the landing knocked the wind from the girl, and she held her head while kneeling on the floor, trying to regain her breath.

"Humans are such fragile creatures…" he stated and scoffed at the girl's weakness for the boy. She put up more of a fight the last few times he fought her, and now she had seemed to give up all will to live.

* * *

"Brother…" Alphonse whispered to himself. He couldn't believe what he just saw, "Brother! No way…Edward can't die!"

Wrath turned his head around from his limbless body to look at Edward's still body, "He's dead…?"

"That's right! He's dead…" Envy said, turning his head towards the child homunculus, "Everyone will die! Only the homunculus will remain…" Gleeful laughter erupted from deep within Envy at the thought of millions of people suffering and eventually dying. He continued to laugh for a few more moments until a body slammed into his side, knocking him to the ground. He angrily got up to see Winry quickly kicking herself up from her position and glaring at him.

"You really _do_ want to die, don't you," he sneered at the girl. He could see the hate and anger towards him fill her eyes as she slowly wiped some of the tears away. He glanced over at Dante, and saw the look in her eyes. Cursing underneath his breath, he could see that she would not approve of him killing the girl in front of him. But maybe she wouldn't care if he had a little fun with her for the moment.

"So, you've changed since that time we visited you at your house. Have you been training?" he mocked her. Her expression stayed the same; she didn't move a muscle. "I wonder if you've improved any since our fight at the shooting range. I do have to admit, you did surprise me a few times there during our little playtime. But now, you have no weapons, and you can't use alchemy, so what are you going to do?"

The expression on Winry's face went from anger to sadness in a matter of seconds. Her knees gave out from underneath her as she slumped to the ground. She sat there, looking towards the floor, unsure of what she _could _do. She didn't even know where she was. The last thing she remembers was meeting Dante with a girl named Rose in Lior while she was working undercover. Next thing she knew, she's in the middle of a ballroom wearing a fancy dress, while Edward lie dead not too far away. It was just all too much for her to handle. She hid her face into her hands and began to weep quietly, greatly entertaining the homunculus in front of her.

"Oh, are you really going to act like you did when I first met you? You really are weaker than I thought…You know," Envy said as he walked closer to her and squatted down so he could whisper in her ear, "I don't really know what Edward saw in you after all…"

Her left hand shot out as soon as the words escaped his mouth and closed around his neck. Envy, taken by surprise, tried to pry the girl's hand away from him, but the automail was just too strong. He saw her lift her head and flash an evil smile, "You're not the only one who can trick people, Envy…" Winry pulled her right hand back, and with all the power and hatred she could muster, punched the homunculus in the face and sent him flying across the room.

Envy quickly got up from his fallen position and angrily rubbed his neck. Without hesitation he ran back towards the girl, not caring anymore if he killed her or not. He could deal with Dante later. Winry easily ducked down and dodged his attacks, but lost her footing as she tried to jump to the side; all thanks to the damn dress she was in at the moment. This is why she preferred to train in pants and a tank top. It's less chance of something like this happening. Winry fell onto the ground, and quickly tried to get up, but Envy jumped directly behind her. Slinging his arm around like a noose, he held her in a chokehold, cutting off her air supply again. Winry tried kicking and punching him to release her, but nothing she did seemed to work.

Envy smiled as he could feel her strength fading as the oxygen was cut off from her body.

* * *

"Envy, that's enough," came a commanding voice from his side. He looked over and saw Dante glaring at him, angered by his disrespect and blatantly ignoring her orders on how he handled the girl. Growling to himself, he knew he would not be allowed to kill the teenager. Frustrated, Envy grabbed the girl by the neck and held her at arm's length. Before Winry, or anyone could react, he bashed her in the side of the face with his other hand and let her fall to the ground. Winry's body crumpled on the ground in a motionless heap. Envy walked back to Dante, kicking Edward's lifeless body on the way, "Don't worry. I didn't kill her. I was just tired of her attitude…" he told the woman.

"Brother…Winry…But they…My brother can't be dead!" yelled Alphonse as he saw the events that just occurred. Winry was still alive…but his brother was a different situation. "My brother…"

"This is reality," Dante said, pushing Envy away from her with one hand. She was too angry at him at the moment for him to be near her. "Or perhaps his sacrifice wasn't enough…In the end, sacrifices are never enough. Gluttony," she called out, gaining the attention of the drooling homunculus, "It's time." Without waiting a second more, Gluttony began to run toward Alphonse, ready to devour him from head to toe.

"No…" came the small whisper from Winry, who had just started to regain consciousness, "Al…"

* * *

Dante sat and watched as, finally, things were starting to work the way she wanted them to. Edward was dead, and Winry was coming in and out of consciousness. She would have rather Envy didn't use the force he did while fighting the teenage girl, but she had to be overcome somehow, or else she may have ruined the whole plan. Holding the baby in her arms, Dante looked over to see the girl slowly regaining consciousness, her arm reaching out as if she could help Alphonse. _It's too late, now_, thought Dante, _even if you resist, I will soon take over your body and discard your soul._

"Please…Stop…" she could hear the girl whisper as she struggled to push herself up to her knees.

A clapping noise caught the attention of Dante, and anger began to flow through her veins, "What! What happened?"

"Gluttony," called Envy, walking away from Dante. He too had heard the noise and wondered what happened. Gluttony lifted his head from his meal and looked to his fellow homunculus, and much to everyone's surprise, part of his mouth was missing. "It's alchemy! He's being dissolved," muttered Envy as he saw what was happening. He took a few steps back as Alphonse began to sit up in the transmutation circle, while Gluttony tried in vain to find his lower jaw with his hands. The inside of Al glowed brightly with a crimson light as ancient tattoos glowed in the same light all over his metal.

"You fool," Dante spat out as she walked over to hand the baby to Envy, then began to walk towards the circle, "Didn't I tell you that you shouldn't use alchemy? You've dissipated that much again…"  
"Stay away!" Al screamed at her, waving his hand in front of him threateningly. His outburst caused the woman to stop in her tracks and not come a step closer, "Don't touch me!" He turned away from her and began to walk towards his brother's body.

"And what exactly are you going to do?" questioned Dante. Both of these brothers could be so stubborn at times, just like their father.

Alphonse walked up to Edward's body and knelt down next to it, "My brother isn't dead yet." His comment caused Winry to jerk her head up in surprise, but the motion caused her head to feel like it was splitting in half. Ignoring the pain, she crawled as best she could over to the other side of Edward's body and looked hopefully into Al's eyes, pleading for him not to be lying. Al reached down and felt the side of Edward's face with his cold, metal hand. "See? He's still warm…"

"Al…" whispered Winry, new tears formed behind her eyes at the thought of Edward still being alive.

"His soul is still inside the gate," he continued, "I just have to bring it back, just like he did for me." Alphonse looked up to see his friend's pleading expression. "Winry…You will be together again. Please…move back…"

The teenager looked at her childhood friend and slowly nodded, then began to scoot back as far as she could from Edward and Alphonse. With the studying she had done, she had an idea of what was to happen. But it was as if she could see Alphonse's determined eyes looking straight into her soul at that moment, trying to comfort her the best way he could.

"You mustn't do this," yelled Dante, her frustration rising to a boiling point, "If you do that…"

"I…" interrupted Al, "Many people were sacrificed when I became the Philosopher's Stone. No…" he said, lowering his head. "Maybe I died on that day. That's why…"

Envy growled, frustrated at the boy's actions and threw the baby from his arms to his side. Winry gasped as she saw the child fly through the air, and quickly jumped up to grab him before he was to hit the floor. The homunculus lunged towards Alphonse, as the metal armor clapped his hands and looked up at him, "That's dangerous…"

* * *

A bright blue light erupted from where Edward lay as Alphonse began the transmutation. The light filled the room, and in succession, large crimson transmutation circles began to light up around the area, until it was filled with the mix of blue and red light. Winry rolled over on her side, putting her back towards Alphonse, and covered the baby with as much of her body as she could to shield him from the light. She clenched her eyes together, but the light was so bright it seemed to penetrate anything around it.

"Brother…" she could barely hear Alphonse whisper before the blue light grew and overtook him, Edward, and Envy.


	34. Chapter 34

Evening everyone…I just got home from both my karate and Japan club meeting, so that's why this is a little later than normal. It's still on Thursday like I promised though!

Truthfully, I have NO idea what happened with the past few chapters. They do seem kind of rushed, and I can't blame it all on trying to get really close to the anime, and I take full blame for it. I think (more like hope), you guys will like this and the rest of the chapters. There's only a small part from the anime in the beginning, and then from then on out it's all from my head (however weird that may be!)…

I want to comment on Umi Mikazuki's review about why I didn't write about Edward in London. Well, if you read above and some of my reviews for the last few chapters, you'll know why. That and I thought it would be WAY too much information to process all at once for someone who may have not seen the end of the series yet. Do the spoilers burn?

Either way, I hope it's better from here on out.

I know I can trust on you guys to let me know!

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Four

The normal white surroundings of the area around the looming gate was now a pale yellow. Edward stood before the gate, though this time it was without fear. An image of his brother's armor flashed in front of him, slightly confusing him, "Al?" The image disappeared, and moments later Envy faded into his view. The homunculus whirled around, looking at his surroundings, "What the…!" He turned to Edward and demanded to know where he was.

"The gate…" Edward said calmly. For some reason, everything seemed to be calm to him. Even with a dangerous homunculus in front of him; the feelings never changed. Envy glared at him, and then quickly whirled around to see the looming gate behind him. The eye that was carved into the two doors seemed to stare into his soulless body, unnerving him. He turned his head slightly back to Edward, "Where does it lead?"

"I believe it's a place called London," Edward replied, " A place where our father is…" The information caused the homunculus to turn his whole body back towards Edward in anger, "Father! Do you mean Hohenheim of Light?" Edward nodded his head in approval. "He's still alive!" demanded Envy. Smiling slightly to himself, he turned back around and walked up the steps to the closed gate. Putting his fingers in the grooves of the door, he struggled and attempted to open the doors by force.

"You really shouldn't," warned Edward, "Do you know what will happen?"

"I _will_ go to Hohenheim!" Envy yelled as he continued to pry open the doors. They finally began to move, which motivated him even more to pull harder. "I will kill him!" He said as he finally had the doors open at arms length. The blackness seemed to stretch forever, but moments later, the dozens of eyes opened and stared at the intruder. "Take me to Hohenheim!" yelled the homunculus to the eyes. He didn't even flinch when dozens of tentacles shot out and wrapped around his body, pulling him into the darkness. He laughed to himself as golden light began to surround the tentacles, but was distracted when he noticed the blackness began to take forms of tiny babies all over his skin. They clawed and bit at his skin, attempting to rip it from him.

"Get out of my way!" he screamed to the black forms, "I'm going!" He quickly transformed into a form of Edward, throwing all of the forms off of him. "I'm going to where Hohenheim is!" He could see a white light far away, bobbing and weaving throughout the golden light that now surrounded him. He melted into his true form, "To where my FATHER is!" Seeing he wasn't getting anywhere fast, Envy transformed into a giant serpent dragon and began to fly towards the white light. Edward saw the dragon form shrink more and more as the doors slowly closed shut in front of him.

Edward stood there motionless as he watched the doors close. Tears flowed down his cheek, though his face did not convey any expression of sadness. Moments passed by as a single name was uttered, "Al…" as the gate disappeared from his view.

* * *

"Edward, are you alive?" a familiar voice echoed through his head.

Edward slowly opened his eyes and saw Winry leaning over him as his vision came into focus. He saw a big bruise forming on the side of her face where she was obviously struck hard by someone, and her dress was covered in blood. He sat up quickly as he thought she was seriously injured, but stopped as his head began to spin from the sudden movement. She leaned over and gently pressed him back down to the floor, "Don't worry about me," she said, "I'm fine. I just look worse than I feel at the moment…"

Winry reached forward with her right hand and cupped the side of his face. Using her thumb she wiped away a trail of tears that had fallen from his eyes. Edward felt the wetness from the tears and lifted his right hand to rub his own face, "Why am I crying?" A strange feeling brushed his face as he wiped the tears away; one that he had not felt in many years. He lifted his hand in front of him to find it wasn't automail anymore, but his own original hand. Confused, he slowly sat up this time, and waited a moment for the dizziness to pass, then looked around at his surroundings. Winry and he were in the same opera house as before. The floor was still bare, but now, sitting next to the girl, was a chair that seemed to have been alchemically altered into a makeshift crib. Edward could hear the small breathing of a baby sleeping soundly inside the crib. He held his hand in front of his face, almost disbelieving what he was seeing, and felt his left leg to find that, it too, was his original leg.

Confused, Edward continued to look around the room. Finally, his gaze stopped on the girl sitting next to him. She seemed happy that he was alive, but there was sadness behind her eyes. He looked down to see that her automail hand peeked out from underneath the sleeve of the dress she wore. "Winry," he said as he placed his hand on hers, "what happened?"

Her face lifted up slightly, and Edward could see more of the sadness she tried to hide, "Al performed a transmutation on you. On your dead body…" tears leapt to her eyes at the memory of his body lying here, sitting in a pool of blood. She could see Edward's face react to the information, as he tried to grasp the situation, "He used the Philosopher's Stone to affix my soul to my body…Then," he said with urgency in his voice, "what happened to Al!"

He watched her as her face fell again in remembrance, confirming his suspicion. "He disappeared?" Edward couldn't believe it, as he jumped to his feet and began to yell out for his brother. He couldn't be gone! He just couldn't! Not after all they had been through!

Edward's yelling quickly woke up the baby, as Winry rushed to the crib's side and tried to comfort him; the tears still streamed down her face. She held the child within her arms and sunk down to her knees on the ground. "I'm sorry, Edward…I'm..so sorry" she wept as the child continued crying in her arms. The teenager turned around to see the girl he loved hunched over on the floor. Tears fell from her face and landed on the floor below her. Edward slowly walked over to where the she sat, and kneeled in front of her. The baby slowly began to quiet down after a moment, and Edward gently took him from her arms and placed the baby back in the crib. Coming back to face Winry, he sank to his knees and gently took the girl in his arms. All that had happened within the last hour or so had been too much for her, and she was on the verge of breaking down. With her head rested underneath his chin, she clutched onto him for dear life. Even if he hadn't seen her in a long time, the sound of her sobs still broke his heart. Part of him wanted to stay here and be with her, but he knew he had to do something to help his brother.

"Winry," Edward said after the girl began to settle down. She lifted her head and looked upward to Edward; her eyes still clouded with tears. Being mindful of her injured cheek, Edward gently wiped away the tears from her eyes and smiled slightly at her. "You don't know how happy I am right now to see you," he said causing her to smile in return, "but you know what I have to do."

Winry lowered her eyes and nodded sadly, "You're going to try and bring Al back, aren't you?" She looked up to see the determination set in his face. "I have come to expect no less from you." She began to push herself off of the ground, and he quickly helped her to stand up.

"Winry," his voice caught her attention, "I want you to get out of here. It's not going to be safe for you to be anywhere near here when I do this…"

The girl nodded her head in understanding. "I guess you will also need to take him with you too," Edward said, pointing to where what remained of Wrath lay. Winry stared at the child with no arms and legs, then turned back to Edward.

"What about you? What do you think will happen?"

"I don't know, that's why I'd rather you be far away when I do this. Most likely I will destroy this place," Edward said as they both looked around the giant room. "But this way no one ever seeks the Philosopher's Stone again…"

Silence surrounded the two, as each was lost in their own thoughts. "But you'll come back when you're finished, right?" came a small voice from the girl. She was not ready to lose him again, "You have a good pair of legs now…" she tried to say jokingly.

Edward turned around and faced her, "I had a good pair of limbs before, too." Winry raised her eyes to see happiness adorning Edward's face. His expression made her feel a little better. A thought crossed his mind moments later as Edward dug into his shirt and pulled the two necklaces he wore around his neck to make them visible. Winry smiled when she saw the both of them together, "Where did you find it?"

"It survived the crimson light in Lior, and Colonel Mustang gave it to me. That's when we all had thought you were…that you had…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. She didn't know anything about the light he spoke of, but felt the sadness in his voice as he spoke. For whatever reason, she realized he thought she had died. Winry couldn't even imagine the torture he could have gone through; not knowing if she was alive or dead. She shook her head to rid it of those thoughts. She felt something touching her neck, and opened her eyes to see Edward clasping the necklace closed around her neck.

"So does this mean you'll come back?" Winry asked quietly, a small sad smile adorning her face. She was surprised when he pulled her into a warm embrace, but quickly wrapped her arms around the man she loved. They sat there in each other's arms for what seemed like an eternity, each holding onto the other like a lifeline.

"Only if it means you will be here to come back to…" he finally whispered into her ear, his voice quivering slightly with emotion. Winry pulled back slightly, and pressed her forehead against his. Edward lifted his hands to cup her beautiful face and found himself entranced by her beauty. He knew at that moment that there would be no other woman that would ever capture his heart the way she did.

Winry smiled slightly at his comment and relished the feeling of his hands on her face, "Whatever happens, know that I'll be here," she said as she covered his hand with hers, "Even if I have to stand on the edge of the earth forever, I'll be here waiting for you…" Tears of joy ran down both teenagers' faces as they closed the distance to share a small and tender kiss.

"It's time that I go, you need to help Al…" Winry finally moments later said as she reluctantly pulled back from their embrace. She would give anything to stay here with him forever, but still didn't want to come between him and his brother. Edward nodded in sadness as she left his embrace, but remembered what she had written in her diary; she didn't want to come between him and Al when it came to getting their bodies back. It pained him to let her go again, but knew it was for the better.

Winry slowly walked away towards the makeshift crib and gently lifted the slumbering baby into her arms. She turned and watched as Edward turned another chair nearby into a wheeled cart, and lifted Wrath onto it. The child homunculus did not protest; he just wanted to get out of here, but couldn't in the state he was currently in. Edward wheeled him to the front of the giant hallway and waited for Winry to join him, "Do you think you'll be able to manage? I mean, with the baby and all?"

Winry nodded slightly and flashed a small smile, "You forget who you're talking to. I think I'll be able to manage…" she joked.

Edward lifted his hand and cupped the uninjured side of her face, "I love you, Winry. I think I always have…" Winry balanced the child in her arms and lifted her hand to cover his.

"I love you too, Edward," she said, as the two embraced for what could be the last time. She finally pulled away from him and looked lovingly into his eyes, "I have to go now…" she said before quickly giving him one last kiss.

"I know," Edward whispered, "So do I…"

* * *

Edward stood silently in the middle of the gigantic transmutation circle that now adorned the floor of the opera house. Shirtless, he had drawn many circles on his bare torso, forearms and forehead. His voice began to echo in the large room, as Edward spoke quietly to himself.

"If what my father said was true, right now, Al's body and soul are…inside of that gate…" he said, lowering his head, slightly. "There's no equivalent trade for a life. No matter how hard I try, it might be in vain. But," he said, lifting his chin up, "You won't disappear, Al…I'll bring you back…"

Once again silence fell upon him as he lifted his arms up slightly in the air, "Please wait for me, Winry…" he said before clapping his hands together. Slowly he placed them on his own body, activating the transmutation circle below him. Both the circle below and the ones on his skin glowed a bright blue hue as energy flowed around the teenager.

_I will come back for you…_


	35. Chapter 35

Welcome back everyone to the final chapters of this story. I was planning on posting this earlier today, but got side-tracked from schoolwork and just realized how late it was! Well, that and the world series was on earlier (go astros!). Anyway, I'm posting all three chapters at the same time so you guys can enjoy them all at once. It's been fun writing this, and I've liked all the reviews I've gotten.

Wait…Read on before I get all sentimental and everything!

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Five

Early morning sunlight filtered through the thin curtains that hung over the second-story window and shone brightly onto the woman's face, waking her up. Winry slowly opened her eyes and rolled over, trying to ignore the light and get a few more minutes of sleep; her alarm hadn't even gone off yet. As if on cue, the annoying sound rang through the room, and was met with an angry fist. The woman rolled over again and looked blearily at the ceiling.

"I hate this job sometimes…" she muttered to herself as she finally swung her legs out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She remembered how she used to love to get up early in the morning, but since she had gotten older, she would have rather slept another hour or so.

Winry quickly dressed in her familiar blue uniform, as was the routine every morning, and checked all of her guns before holstering them in their various places. She walked over to the nearby coffee pot and began pouring a cup, but spilled the hot liquid on the counter as a honking noise outside startled her. Setting the pot down, she marched over to the balcony door and slid it open.

"How many times have I told you not to do that!" she yelled down to the street. Below, First Lieutenant Havoc stood by his open door to the car, smoking his cigarette. Looking up at the flustered woman, he smiled slightly to himself. "Sorry, Winry. I seem to forget every morning around this time…"

"You know," she said as she rubbed her forehead, "If I wasn't such a laid back officer, I would have thrown you in the brig a long time ago." She looked down and saw not only her soldier, but also close friend, smiling at her. This happened every morning, and every morning she attempted to stay mad at him, but it never lasted for very long. "Hang on a second. Let me clean up the coffee you made me spill, and I'll be down…" The Lieutenant nodded and closed his door, then made his way around to the other side of the car to open the door for when she came out.

Winry quickly cleaned up her mess, and then grabbing her coat, went downstairs and out the front door of her two-story townhouse. Shortly after the incident regarding the Philosopher's Stone, she was permitted to buy her own place within town, so long as she still showed up for duty at the proper times. Smiling as she saw Jean open the door for her, she quickly got inside the vehicle and relaxed. If it weren't for Havoc pushing her every single day, she would probably never be on time for anything.

He quickly got back into the driver's seat and handed a brush back to the woman. She became confused as she looked at the item in her hand. Reaching over to a side mirror she quickly came to realize that she had not brushed her hair yet. She had kept it short for a few years before deciding to grow it back out to her original length. Quickly brushing out her once-again blond hair, Winry handed the brush back to the driver, muttering her thanks.

"I do have good news for you this morning, Colonel," announced Havoc as they began to drive the short distance to Central Headquarters.

"Eh? And what is that my oh mighty messenger…" joked Winry. She hated it when he got all formal with her, and he knew it.

"Brigadier General Mustang called me last night and informed me that the Nature Alchemist is finally back and will be giving you a report today…"

"And why wasn't I informed?" Winry said, crossing her arms across her chest slightly, "I would have got up earlier if I would have known."

"No you wouldn't," he said jokingly as he pulled the car into a parking spot and put the parking brake on. He turned his head slightly as his eyes became softer, "And besides…you didn't seem like you were in a very good mood last night when I took you home. Being what day it was and all yesterday…"

Winry lowered her head slightly to hide her emotions, "I knew good and well what day it was yesterday, and I'm proud to say that I was perfectly fine."

Havoc stared at his superior officer for a moment before admitting defeat and exited the car. Moments later, her door opened, and she quickly took his hand to help her out. The moment she got out, she saw the man looking at her.

"You know, you don't have to hide it from me," he whispered, being careful not to drawing attention from any of the other soldiers walking around. "But you think you would have learned that with all the years we have worked together." Without another word he saluted her before closing the door behind the woman.

"Jean, you know I didn't mean it to come out like that," she said under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

"I know," he nodded, "I've worked with you long enough, haven't I?" he flashed a small smile and followed her as she walked to her office.

* * *

Winry sat in her chair and watched the world pass her by outside the window. Her thoughts had been elsewhere after the conversation she had with Havoc in the car earlier. Last night had been the ten-year anniversary of when the Philosopher's Stone situation had culminated; it was the last time she saw Edward. She forced herself not to cry; officers don't cry. But every time she thought about the man she loved, she felt her heart breaking slightly.

Alphonse had been found a short time later after Edward performed the transmutation to bring him back. Instead of being fifteen year-old at the time, Al reappeared as a ten-year old boy, with no memories about anything that happened after the fateful night he originally lost his body. He remembered what his older brother was like when they were children, but had no recollection of anything after that. Winry and her grandmother took Al into their home and had him live with them for a while since the military had granted Winry a leave of absence for as long as she needed. Rose had also been discovered not long after the incident in the Old Central Town, and had nowhere to go. Also, surprisingly, she had been the one taking care of the baby that was used when Dante had captured Winry; apparently the child was an orphan from the Ishballan war to begin with, so Rose had become kind of his adopted mother.

The first few months after the incident had been hard on the teenager, as was to be expected. She had trouble eating or sleeping most of the time, and at one point, had almost given up hope after Alphonse was found, and Edward wasn't. She would never show it in front of the younger brother, didn't want him to know of all the hell everyone went through during that time. But slowly, she began to overcome her sadness and regain control of her life. She returned to duty almost six months after the incident, and was promoted to Colonel a year later. Second Lieutenant Havoc, at the time, offered to work underneath her, and Mustang approved. He knew the two were close friends, and held no grudge for his subordinate helping out another fellow officer. It was at that time Mustang promoted Havoc to First Lieutenant status. There were many times where Havoc could have gone higher up in the military, but he felt content in the position he was occupied.

Soon after Winry left to live in Central, Rose called her and told her about Alphonse's interest in alchemy. He knew that somehow it could help him find his lost brother and bring him home. Winry remembered panicking at first, not wanting him to go through the pain of before, but was assured that he was being watched carefully by her sensei, Izumi.

A year passed before Alphonse came back to Rizenbul from his training. He yearned to become a state alchemist, like his brother, and traveled to Central to ask Winry for help. The State Alchemy portion of the military had changed drastically since the Fuhrer's disappearance, and the actual military came under Parliament from then on. It was better in a lot of aspects. Most of the alchemists mainly helped people now; they were hardly ever used for warfare, and even then it was usually just for scare tactics. Alchemists traveled a lot of Ishbal to help rebuild the old city, and even though the Ishballan's still didn't approve of alchemy, they accepted their help when other ways didn't seem possible.

Alphonse spent months studying for the alchemy exam, and passed, becoming the second youngest alchemist ever to pass, though he wasn't much older than Edward was when he passed. Mustang pulled a few strings and put Alphonse underneath Winry's command, making the Colonel very happy. She was happier knowing she would be able to help Alphonse and watch over him, as he got older.

Yes, the one thing she hated about this job more than anything else had to be being behind a desk and inside an office most of the day. She missed the days when she was a younger alchemist and could basically go wherever she wanted. Granted, most of that freedom had to do with her being under Mustang's command at that time, but even then she missed it dearly.

* * *

A knock at the door brought the woman from her thoughts and she mentally chastised herself for letting her mind wander over the past. She quickly released the pendant that was instinctively held in her hand. She had a bad habit of daydreaming lately, and she worked to stop the distraction. She saw Havoc walk to the door from the corner of her eye; she still faced the window. It was just such a pretty day outside, and she would rather be anywhere else than here.

"Winry, Alphonse is here to report…" came the low voice of Havoc from behind her. The noise startled her, and she mentally slapped herself again for daydreaming before turning around in her chair and standing up. She looked to the middle of the room where the younger of the two brothers she grew up with stood. He had matured into a handsome, young man, and at the age of 20 looked so much like his older brother, even wearing the same red coat that sported the marking from their sensei on the back. Winry smiled at the sight, and walked around the desk to be in front of him. Standing straight as a board, the woman walked up to him, and barked in a commanding voice, "Produce your report, Nature Alchemist!"

She smirked internally as she saw the surprised young man fumble around and hand her the report, then realizing he was holding the report in the hand he saluted with, switched them and saluted correctly. Relaxing, Winry smiled as she put a hand on her hip, "How many times are you really going to fall for that, Al…"

Alphonse looked around and saw Havoc smirking by the window, then looked again to his childhood friend. "Oh yeah…sorry about that, Colonel…I mean uh, Winry," he said, blushing as he scratched the back of his head. He was so used to other officers being so demanding, that he seemed to forget about relaxing when he came back to Central to report.

Winry walked over to one of her couches and flopped herself down, indicating that the two other men should do the same thing. She quickly read the report, taking in all of the details, then sat and contemplated a moment before speaking.

"So there are now forests around Ishbal…I never thought I would hear such a thing," she muttered to herself, glancing back down to the paper.

"Neither did a lot of the Ishballan's," commented Alphonse, "And at first they were skeptical, I mean, you know how they get when they see alchemists at work. But I was able to reassure them that I was not altering any of the components of the plants, just making everything happen faster. And now they have forests. It's great, Winry!" he exclaimed, "You should see all the wildlife that is now starting to show up again around there. Most of those things there haven't been seen in over a few hundred years!"

Winry laid down the report and looked at Alphonse for a moment before smiling, "Good job, soldier… I would expect nothing less from you."

* * *

The night was starless as the shop signs from down the road lit up the sky. Winry and Alphonse sat on the balcony of her townhouse and listened to the unique noises that only towns could make. Cars would drive by every once in awhile, their engines sometimes sputtering from improper use. Nearby homes that had no consideration for their neighbors would have their windows open as the watched their televisions, or listened to their radios. Dogs could be heard barking from various yards, always in competition with each other. Leaning back with his eyes closed, Alphonse finally turned his head to the side to see his childhood friend cleaning all of the various guns she carried around daily.

"How can you put up with carrying all of those around everyday? It just seems to me that it would weigh you down a lot," he noted. He saw Winry lift her head at him and smile slightly.

"Well, since I've been made a Colonel, I really haven't had a chance to use my alchemy. I still know how to use it, but these guns are a kind of a backup I guess." Winry sighed, leaning back and stretching her body. "Well, that and I can use them in battle to use my alchemy. The markings on my automail will react when I touch them to another metal surface, that way I don't have to clap my hands every time I use alchemy. Sometimes it's useful to keep your opponent guessing."

Winry stood up and sorely stretched her limbs again, "I'm going downstairs for a drink. Do you want one?" Alphonse nodded, and she disappeared down the stairs. Moments later he could hear her walking upstairs, and turned to see she had come back with a small tray that held some glasses and a pitcher of water. She poured him a glass, then one for herself, and leaned back in her chair to relax.

Minutes passed in relative silence before Alphonse began talking. "That place we had dinner tonight was really nice. It's such a quiet neighborhood…"

Winry turned her head slightly to look at the younger brother. The whole group, including Mustang and his subordinates, had dinner at the Hughes's house earlier that night. Since Mustang had disposed of the Fuhrer, who was a homunculus, he no longer had any guilt when it came to visiting Grace and Elysia. Winry would stop by at least one day out of every weekend, and spend hours just talking and playing with the girl. She had grown in the past ten years, and was blossoming into a beautiful young teenager.

"I…uh…I know I never got to meet Mr. Hughes, but from what I heard tonight and saw around the house, he seemed like a pretty nice guy," Alphonse commented. A small smile formed on Winry's lips as she nodded her agreement, "Yes, he was a good soldier, and a loving father…"

A small pain began to irritate Winry's left arm, and she stretched her arm in hopes of extinguishing it. When that didn't work, she quickly walked back into her room and grabbed her basic tools and small oil canister, and returned to the balcony. Setting the instruments on the table, she opened the cover of her automail and tinkered around in the wires and connections with her screwdriver.

"Is there something wrong? Anything I can do to help?" Alphonse said, sitting up slowly as he saw his friend's discomfort. She shook her head at his question, and after oiling most of her joints noticed the pain seemed to be gone. She screwed the cover back on her arm and oiled her leg joints just in case they were beginning to dry out.

"Nah, I just think I need to have Grams check it out to make sure everything is working right. I may need to have a replacement soon," she said, cringing at the thought of the pain from replacing limbs, "But, if it has to be done, then it has to be done…Right?"

The younger brother nodded his head, though he really didn't understand the mechanics of automail.

"I've got some vacation time that I can use soon, maybe I can go to Rizenbul and visit Grams. I haven't seen that old woman in forever!" she laughed to herself. "I don't think there's going to be many missions coming up soon, I'll have to double check though. But if not, you should come and visit Rizenbul…when was the last time you visited?"

Alphonse blushed as he realized it had been awhile, "Um…I think it's been at least three years, if not more. The forests in Ishbal have been keeping me pretty busy…And then we are still working on ways to help prevent Aquroya from sinking into the water…"

"Well it's settled then, I'll get Havoc to postpone my meetings…Um…if I have any…I think…and then we'll schedule a few weeks to go home and relax! The city nights can never compare to what you find at home in the country!"


	36. Chapter 36

No new notes…Will type last message on last chapter!

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Six

Winry breathed in the fresh air as she, Havoc, and Alphonse stepped off the train into her hometown of Rizenbul. The day was exceptionally pretty; the sun was shining high in the sky, and there weren't too many clouds around. She turned around as she heard her First Lieutenant laugh slightly to himself.

"I don't know…maybe it's just me," he said, still chuckling, "but every time I come here it seems to be more and more land than anything else…Do the buildings disappear or something?" He ducked out of the way narrowly as Winry threw a playful slap in his direction, "Well, all I'm saying is that I'm used to cities…you know…those things that have lots of buildings and all…" he joked as he pointed to the empty land in front of him.

"Come on," she joked as she grabbed the soldier by the collar and began to drag him down the stairs to the roadway. He came close to losing his balance when she tugged on him, but quickly regained it and took the bag from her hands. Winry turned her head around to stare at him questioningly, and waited for him to answer as he lit a cigarette.

"The last time I came here and your grandmother saw you carrying your own bags…man…I thought _you_ could be pretty scary at times," he said, slightly shivering for emphasis. His comment caused the woman to let out a loud giggle, and he smiled at her reaction. He knew she had been thinking of Edward the past few days since the anniversary just passed, so he did everything he could to take her mind off of the painful memories. He always tried to comfort her as best he could when she was upset; and he still, to this day, received flak from his other military friends who said he had a crush on the woman. He might have when he first met her, hell he still does that when pretty girls come around him, but things never went beyond a friendship with her. He realized that during their trip when Fury and he had to escort her to Rizenbul to repair her arm. On the train ride there he tried talking to her, but received little response. He had wanted to know more about the fellow soldier they escorted, but she wouldn't open up to him at all. Then, on the same night she had her automail changed, he found her sitting outside by herself. He quietly joined her while he smoked a cigarette, and for a while nothing was said. Then finally she began talking to him. They talked for hours and he then found out about the relationship between her and Edward. He felt sorry for her at first, and hoped he could help her somehow. He knew then that there would never be a chance between him and her, and surprisingly it didn't bother him. They have remained close friends ever since.

"Would you two hurry up?" came the distant voice of Al. The Colonel and her soldier looked around and saw the young man standing further up the road, just then realizing his two fellow travelers were goofing off. "I swear you'd think I was the oldest one in the group or something," he smiled as the two came walking up.

The trio began what would be an hour-long walk to reach Winry's childhood home. The three joked as they talked about the military. In between picking fun at certain fellow officers and each other, Al would describe his efforts to keep the forest growing around Ishbal, and also their ideas currently on keeping Aquroya afloat.

The time passed quickly as they joked around, and soon the top of the Rockbell house could be seen over some of the small surrounding hills. In the distance, Winry could hear the sounds of a child happily playing with a dog. As they came to the top of a hill her suspicions were confirmed as she saw Shay, the orphan Rose took care of, rolling around in the grass with their dog, Riley. The stray chocolate lab joined their family about five years ago, and kept Den company up until his last days, which sadly were about two years ago.

As they began to come closer to the house, Winry could see Rose sitting in one of the chairs on the porch, propped back while reading a book. She was happy Rose decided to stay around and live in the house. Even when she was a state alchemist, Winry constantly worried about her grandmother living by herself in that big house. And now that she's gotten even older it was imperative to have someone there in case an emergency happened. Shay kept the old woman on her toes, though her age never stopped her from disciplining the child.

Riley lolled his head over happily as the ten year-old child continued to rub his belly, but quickly jumped up and ran away from the house towards the people he saw coming down the road. Winry laughed as the dog bounced happily as the new people were coming to visit, and she knelt down to rub his brown head.

"Winry!" she looked up as she heard her name being yelled from the house. Shay ran as fast as his legs would permit and finally stopped within a few feet from the group, "Winry, you're back! Oh, um… I mean," he tried to say professionally as he saluted, "Welcome back, Colonel!" The woman tried not to laugh at the child's display, but found it extremely difficult not to giggle. She quickly saluted back at the child, "At ease, soldier!" The child jumped into her arms, and his size nearly toppled her over. She couldn't believe he had grown so much!

"Shay…what have I told you about tackling our guests?" she heard the distant voice of Rose call over to them. The child whirled around and looked guilty at his behavior and quickly apologized, then grabbed Winry's hand and began to drag her back towards the house.

Havoc leaned over and whispered in Alphonse's ear, causing the young man to laugh, "You'd think he missed her or something, huh?"

* * *

Winry sat on the front porch with the other adults after dinner to have a cup of tea and enjoy the evening stars, "It's so good to be back home…There's just only so much I can put up with when I'm in the city." She heard the disagreeing snort coming from Havoc to her side, and playfully hit him on the arm.

"Yeah, I kind of have to agree with you, Winry…When I was in Lior, I can't remember nights that were as pretty as this," Rose said dreamily as she stared off into the distance, though she amazingly kept an eye on her child who played in the grass with Riley. Winry could see the other young woman balance both sights at once and chuckled slightly, "How do you do it, Rose? Shay is such a hyper child. I think I would go crazy having to watch him all day and night…"

"How do you think I managed with the three of you when you were children, piped in Pinako, "Edward and Alphonse were mischievous enough by themselves, but throwing you into the picture multiplied things substantially--"

"I was not!" exclaimed the blond-haired woman, "I wasn't really _that_ bad…was I?" she said as she heard the older woman chuckle slightly. She knew her grandmother liked to pick on her still, claiming that even though she had grown into a responsible (well, at least _semi_-responsible) woman, she would always be her child.

"Well," Pinako sighed as the silence surrounding her began to lull her to sleep. She looked to Winry as she began to slowly stand up from her chair, "Let's go get you measured so I can get started early tomorrow." Winry nodded, then stood to help her grandmother if needed, and they walked into the house and upstairs to the workshop. Winry sat on a nearby chair while the old woman went through one of her toolboxes to retrieve her tape measure.

"Are you sure you want to keep this design?" Asked Pinako as she carefully measured the girl for her replacement limbs, "There has been so much improvement in automail design these past years that it would do you good to keep up with the latest technology, especially if you have to use it a lot in the military…"

Winry looked down towards her grandmother and shook her head, "No, Grams…I've said this many times before. I like this design and I'd like to stick with it." She could see a slight sadness come over the old woman's face, and for a moment thought she may have offended her.

"You want to keep it because it's what Edward wore…isn't it…" came the quiet statement as the woman kept measuring different parts of her current metal arm and leg, then comparing them to measurements of her fleshy limbs. Sadness flashed through Winry's eyes, but was quickly suppressed; she had been better about keeping her emotions in check, "Yeah, Grams…That's the reason…Is it going to be a problem for you? I mean, I know it's an old design and all, but I thought you'd be able to handle it," she said slowly with a smile. She loved to poke fun at her grandmother still when it came to automail. The elder woman had lost some of her vision and moved much more slowly than what Winry remembered, but that never stopped her from piecing together automail.

The statement hit home as Pinako slid her glasses further up her nose and scowled slightly at the younger woman, "No respect for the elderly, I tell you…kids these days…" she muttered, though slightly smiling at her granddaughter's statement. She turned her head sharply when she heard some snickering from the side, and saw Alphonse laughing at the interaction between the two women as he passed by the door on the way to his room. "Don't encourage her, Alphonse!"

* * *

Winry lay on the couch a few days later after having her automail limbs replaced. As usual, pain continued to spark throughout her body, but over the years she had become almost numb to the pain. It hurt for the first few hours, but it would eventually fade into a dull, aching feeling. She opened her eyes later after a small nap, to see a child sitting close to her, watching to see if she moved.

"See anything that interests you, Shay?" she weakly laughed. The child was always fascinated when she got her automail changed out; he had a great potential on becoming a mechanic himself as he had helped Pinako as much as he could. The darker-skinned boy blushed as he realized she was looking at him and began to scoot away, but stopped as Winry called out his name.

"Come back here, you," she said playfully as she slowly sat up on the couch. It never took her more than a few hours to get up and moving around after changing out her limbs. Her philosophy was that the sooner you started using them, the sooner the pain would go away, which held true for the past thirteen years. The child meekly crawled back over to the couch she sat on and stared at her automail in awe as she stretched her sore limbs.

Smiling slightly at his antics, she pointed over to a screwdriver on the table and asked him to retrieve it for her. Confused, the child did as he was told, and sat down next to the woman on the couch. "Do you want to see what makes this automail work?" The child looked up, somewhat concerned, but couldn't hide the anticipation behind his eyes.

"Won't it hurt, Winry? I don't want you to do it if it hurts…" he said quietly, though keeping his gaze on the bright metal.

Winry smiled again as she shook her head, "Nah, don't worry, I'm just a little sore. This is nothing compared to some of the stuff I've been through. Here," she said, handing the screwdriver to the child, "Take this, and unscrew these screws here on my arm. Don't worry, I'll be fine…"

And with that she carefully showed the child about the mechanics of her automail. He admitted to her that he had tried to read some of the books she had left behind when she moved to Central, and kind of understood them. He nodded as she pointed out the different positions of the wires that sent the nerve impulses to the body, allowing it to feel some things. Also, the mechanics that moved the joints were very important as well. After Shay's small lesson, Winry had him replace the cover on her arm and gave the child a small hug, and promised him that she would talk to her grandmother to teach him more about being an automail mechanic. She could use the help since Winry moved out, and she believed it would be a valuable experience for the child to learn.


	37. Chapter 37

So, here we are…The last chapter…

(Dabs eyes)

I know some of you want me to write a sequel, and I really am contemplating it. But, like I said in a prior chapter, I think it's going to depend on what I get out of when I watch the FMA movie. I think I've changed one of the characters enough as it is, and I don't want to do something _weird_ or anything (grins). Anyway, keep a look out because I will be posting my Inuyasha story when I get through with it. I should post stuff more towards the beginning of the year anyway, because there aren't many classes I need to take (well, let me rephrase that…There _are_ a lot of classes I still need, but none of them are being _offered_!), so I will have some extra time to do lots of fanfic goodness then!

Once again, it's been fun putting this story up for you guys. I've gotten a hell of a lot more reviews (and mostly positive at that!) reviews than I thought I would have. And I think I may even be able to get better at my writing, so we'll just have to see!

Thanks again everyone!

* * *

Chapter Thirty-Seven 

That same night after receiving her new automail limbs, Winry found herself sitting on the roof in the spot she would visit often as a child. She remembered vividly the conversations her and Edward would have, and how many times they fought over petty things as well. Lying back, Winry stared up at the stars, and secretly wished she could move back out to the country. This place was just so calm and peaceful, and she missed being able to see the stars at night.

Winry laughed quietly to herself as she could hear the arguing coming from within the house. There was always a nightly ritual that after Shay finished playing with Riley after dinner, that he would get a bath, and then go to bed. Around that time, the child stalled often, saying he was still reading a book or doing something or other. When it finally came time for him to go to bed he would whine and wish to stay up later, even if it was only for fifteen minutes. The woman could remember herself doing that for a period of time when she was a child. She would always tell her grandmother that she wanted to keep talking with Edward, who had been sent home by that point. Her fits didn't last very long as they discovered the fine art of sneaking out of their windows and lying on the roof together. They were so naïve and believed that no one ever knew, but deep down Winry knew her grandmother wasn't that oblivious to her actions. She wasn't exactly a quiet child most of the time.

Winry let her thoughts wander through the nighttime wind for hours, and before she realized what time it was, she saw the colors beginning to slightly lighten behind the mountains. She didn't realize she had been up there all night by herself, and shivered when she remembered that she forgot to bring her coat. Whenever she was off duty, the woman began the habit of wearing the same outfit as when she started as an alchemist. She didn't like dresses too much, mainly because of her leg being exposed and because of when she fought Envy those ten years ago. She didn't want to be caught off guard again.

She slowly and quietly slid off of the roof and onto the balcony, hoping not to wake anyone up in the process, but ducked instinctively as a streak of light flew high over her head and landed not far from the house in a large explosion. She quickly jumped up and looked around to see a hue of red and orange form about a quarter mile from the house. The colors danced in the still dark sky as smoke began to rise into the air, signaling a fire of some sorts.

Without taking the time to run through the house, Winry quickly jumped over the balcony and landed on the ground below her. Hearing the front door open, she turned and saw Havoc run outside as he threw a shirt over his head; he must have been sleeping when the blast happened, Winry thought to herself. He turned and looked surprised to see Winry looking at him.

"Do you know what happened?" he asked, "I was dead asleep and then heard that and thought the house was collapsing."

Winry shook her head, and heard Alphonse come through the door quickly next to Havoc. "What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to take a look," she said, turning her head towards the direction of the explosion, "Jean." The soldier turned his heads toward the woman and nodded his understanding, and quickly disappeared through the door. Moments later, he returned with her shoulder holsters that held the larger of the guns she regularly carried. In his other hand were her two smaller thigh holsters, and he quickly tossed them to his Colonel. Quickly snapping the holsters on, Winry checked for her spare knives she always had strapped to her legs and looked back to the men, "Just watch over everyone inside. I'm sure they're already awake. Al," she said, nodding her head towards the door, "Make sure Grams is okay…I know she's up in age, but even _she_ had to have heard that…"

Alphonse nodded his head and went back in to check on everyone. Checking one more time to make sure she had everything, Winry turned around to see Havoc staring at her, "What is it?"

"What would you do without me?" he sighed, smiling as he threw a small silver object at her, "You really wouldn't function, would you…"

Winry caught what was thrown and realized it was her State Alchemist's pocket watch. She quickly stuffed it in her pocket and smiled back at her friend, "Thanks…For everything…"

"Sure you don't want me to go?" he asked reassuringly, turning to face the door if she agreed. The woman slowly shook her head, "No, I'll be okay. Just stay here and protect my family…"

* * *

Winry turned and began to run towards the rising pillar of smoke, praying that no one was hurt in the explosion. She tried to reason what could have caused the blast, but no plausible ideas came to mind. She ran down the path towards the blast, taking cover behind any available bushes and trees along the way. As far as she was concerned, someone could be doing this intentionally, and she planned on treating it with high military caution in case a terrorist were behind the attack. 

After what seemed like forever, Winry finally began to reach the site of the explosion. She was silently thankful that the blast happened in one of the many fields in Rizenbul instead of in a residential area, but was confused at the dozens of small pieces of material she saw lying around on the ground. Keeping her guns out and at the ready, Winry kneeled down to find a medium-sized piece of metal steaming in the grass. Without thinking, she reached out with her right hand to touch it, and yelped when it burned her skin. Looking around, she noticed most of the smoke and dust coming from a central area. She couldn't really see anything in it as the smoke was still thick, but she felt a slight fear crawl through her skin. She had never experienced anything like this, and didn't know what to do.

Winry decided to blend into her surroundings as much as possible, which was somewhat easy since the sky was still dark outside. She quickly found a small bush to kneel next to, and pointed both guns towards the center of the smoke. As the smoke began to clear, Winry was able to make out a large container of some sorts that was partially collapsed into the ground. What would something like that be doing out here?

Then it hit her; she remembered seeing a streak going overhead before the explosion. Could this thing have been in the air and crashed? It seemed logical, but no one had ever made such a contraption as far as she knew. It would be impossible to get anything that heavy to fly in the air! Before she could think anything else, the woman was startled as part of the ship began to move. She could hear some creaking sounds, and as she cocked her guns, she saw a hatch or door of some sorts open from the other side of the container.

Staying silent, she watched the shadows of a tall person get out of the contraption and stretch their arms and legs. The smoke was thick enough that she couldn't make out any details, but could only see the shadows playing off of the small flames that were scattered throughout the crash site. So were terrorists really behind all of this? Sure, she may have irritated some people along the way while she was a Colonel, but that didn't warrant anyone to try and blow up her hometown. She watched as the person began to check over the contraption they had just exited, and become mad she guessed because from out of nowhere they kicked the side of the machine, and then quickly grabbed their foot as they began hopping around.

So, um…maybe terrorists weren't behind this, at least she had never seen any act like _that_.

Winry, slowly getting up from her position, silently crept closer to the source of the explosion, kneeling quickly whenever the shadow stopped moving. She noticed that the shadow was attempting to put out some of the remaining flames around from them, though the smoke that rose still blocked a good view of who it was. She could feel the heat from the diminishing flames as she came closer and closer to this threat, and she finally decided she was close enough. Now was the time to figure out what was going on.

"Freeze!" Winry yelled into the relatively quiet area, save for the crackling of burning twigs and grass. She saw the figure stop moving suddenly, then begin to move away from the wreckage and closer to her. "What the hell, didn't you hear me? I said freeze, bastard!" she yelled again, but to her dismay the figure kept approaching. If she didn't react soon, the stranger would be upon her. Quickly, she fired a warning shot into the air, though through all of the smoke, she wondered if the stranger knew it was just a bluff, or if they just thought she was just a lousy shot. The stranger had come closer to the edge of the smoke as she fired off the round and quickly stopped, much to the happiness of the officer. She quickly holstered one gun and kept the other pointed straight at the shadow, "Don't move! I won't miss on purpose next time!"

Silence surrounded the area again as the officer kept her gun pointed at the shadow in the smoke. Winry was caught off guard when a vaguely familiar voice called her name. She quickly glanced around while keeping her gun pointed at the intruder, but found no one near who could have called for her.

"Winry…" it called again, and she realized it was coming from the intruder that she had held at gunpoint. She narrowed her eyes as she realized the intruder knew who she was. So maybe she really did irritate someone, and now they were after her.

"Who are you?" she yelled to the shadow, and was surprised when they refused to follow her orders to stay put. The smoke began to clear as the sky turned lighter, making their form now visible.

"You don't recognize me?" came _his_ voice…the voice she had wanted to hear for ten years. Slowly from out of the smoke appeared Edward, albeit an older-looking Edward, but Edward nonetheless. He had grown taller within the last ten years and was dressed in peculiar formal-looking clothes, but it was still her Edward. There was no metal shining from underneath his sleeve; it appeared that all of his limbs were back to normal and his automail had disappeared. His long ponytail blew around in the wind which had suddenly formed, dispersing the remaining smoke and haze.

Winry, not believing her own eyes, slowly sank to her knees as she saw the illusion come closer to her. She had dreams these past years that included the man she loved, but never had she had them this realistic and during her waking hours. The gun shook in her hands as she kept it pointed at the person in front of her. She could feel the warm tears begin to slide down her face and onto her arms, and nothing she did could stop them from flowing.

The person that looked like her Edward was soon standing in front of her and began to kneel to her level. At that moment, her brain kicked back into gear and the woman quickly backed up away from the person, holding her gun steady yet again at his head.

"How do I know you're really Edward? How do I know you're not someone screwing with my head again?" she growled as cocked the gun and ignored the anguished tears that continued down her face. The gun being so close and loaded finally prompted the person to hold his hands up in surrender. "Tell me!" she screamed at the person, "Prove to me you're him!"

"Winry," the person said quietly as he slowly reached into the neck of his shirt. He saw the barrel of the gun pointed at him, and didn't want to provoke her anymore. Gradually, Winry could see a small and shiny pendant dangling from a necklace that hung around his neck. Even in the lightening sky, she could tell it was exactly like the one she crafted for him those many years ago.

The barrel of the gun lowered to the ground as the woman could see the shining pendant dangling from the man's neck. Could it really be him?

Edward let the pendant fall out of his hands and dangle around his neck, and then dared to move slightly closer to Winry. For ten years he had gathered colleagues around London, Munich, and the world, and he had finally designed an ship that would allow him to travel into space; one step closer to his real home. He couldn't imagine what it was like for her here to not know how he was doing, to not know if he was even still alive. Maybe she felt how he did when he thought she was caught within the crimson light. He knew it was agony for himself over in the other world, working and planning almost day and night to comprise a way to get home. Many sleepless nights were had just thinking about her and getting home. And he was finally here…

"Winry…" he finally whispered, bringing the woman from her thoughts. He watched as Winry slowly un-cocked the gun and set it on the ground to the side. She looked back at the man in front of her and brought her hand up to his older face. He felt as she took her hand and cupped his face, trying to discern his true identity; looking for any reason not to believe him.

"Prove you're him," she said quietly after a moment, bringing her hand down and resting it on her gun that still lie on the ground, "Tell me something that only Edward would know…"

"Well," he said after a moment of thought, "The words we exchanged on the last day we saw each other; down in the old city. I said I would only come back if I knew you were going to be here to come back to…Then you're exact words were…'Whatever happens, know that I'll be here. Even if I have to stand on the edge of the earth forever, I'll be here waiting for you'…" Edward slowly took Winry's hands in his own, and was happy that she didn't pull back. "Every single day I was over there, those were the only words I would hear echoing in my mind. I came back because I knew _you_ would be here…"

Winry looked down to see his hands holding hers, and the fear she felt when she first crawled onto the scene vanished in a split second as she felt his skin against hers. Looking back up, she could see his golden eyes staring into hers. _His_ eyes. Without notice she flung herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around his torso. She held onto him tightly as he wrapped his arms around her small body, his heart breaking from the sound of her sobs.

A few minutes passed before the woman's sobs began to die down and she finally pulled herself away from Edward's grasp. She sat back, and he could see the happiness in her eyes as she gazed up at the man she loved. She quickly reached up and wiped her eyes, then reached forward and wiped away the small few that had escaped his own. Smiling at him, Winry reached over to grab her gun and swiftly holstered it onto her back. Edward stood up, and then leaned down to offer a hand, which the woman happily accepted. He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her as they watched the sunlight hit the remaining parts of his ship. He leaned over slightly to rest his chin on her shoulder as they held onto one another, and watched the last of the flames finally die out.

"So, the place you were at," Winry finally said, tilting her head up to him after several minutes of silence, "Machines run everything over there? Things like this can fly in the sky?"

Edward laughed to himself, causing a small frown to appear on the woman's face. He unwrapped his arms and turned her around to give her a big hug, then wrapped his arm around her waist as they began walking away from the wreckage. "Don't worry, I'll tell you how they work when we get back, you machine-freak…"

A small smile played over the woman's features as she realized his childhood joke, "Okay, fine, you alchemy freak," she pouted as they continued to walk back towards the Rockbell home, "You better tell me when we get home, or else I'll sick my wrench after you!"

Edward looked down at the woman next to him; he hadn't realized he had grown so tall in the past ten years. Looking at her, and then the road ahead of them, he smiled to himself, "Yeah…when we get back home…"

"Edward?" came her voice, bringing him from his thoughts. He stopped walking when she did, and looked down to her. Looking up, Winry reached a hand up to his face and brought it down to her level before giving him a tender kiss. He wrapped his hands around her slender body, pulling her towards him; happy to be in her presence. She pulled back slightly after a moment, and leaned her forehead against his. She smiled as she saw the happiness flow through his eyes, much like she felt through her entire soul. Finally they were together again.

"I told you I'd be waiting…"


End file.
